A week ago, some may say one of the most tragic realities struck America as Trump was elected President. I am not writing to persuade people’s thoughts regarding the election or politics as a whole. Hell, I didn’t even vote. But now that the choice has been made, dispute has been unleashed, and segregation has settled it’s time to reflect on our own responsibilities as American citizens rather than point a finger at someone else.
As many would like to argue against Trump and encourage this idea that our world is coming to an end, understand that if the roles had been reversed the response might have very well been the same. If there is so much hate for Trump across the media, then why has he won? This only establishes the idea that social media today has completely skewed our perception of what to value and how to idolize those values. Speaking out to my fellow millennial generation, it’s time to use our voice. Stop conforming to the social norms the media has constructed for us. Stop falling down the spiral of silence when society projects your values as wrong (because clearly there were a lot of Trump supporters hiding behind screens). And stop feeling badly for yourself. Our time has come to actually try and make a difference in this world and it’s only selfish to sit around and make a joke of the matter.
So what? So what a misogynistic, racist, homophobic motherfuc*er has been elected president? So what a criminal did not win? This divide between our nation is unjust, and it’s not going to help us move forward. Yes, there is a new man in power. Yes, some strongly agree with his mindset and others do not, but the voice of a united nation, 324 million people, is a lot louder than that of a single person. So, if you believe Trump is wrong for the position, don’t sit around and wait for the world to come crashing down upon us, don’t argue with your peers and neighbors over why you’re right and their wrong. It’s time to learn the meaning of civility and put it to good use.
Again, I’m not writing this to post my thoughts regarding the election all over Facebook, because honestly I am the most unbiased resource there is. I don’t follow politics, I barely passed my American Political System in high school, and although it’s shameful to most, I didn’t practice my right to vote in this year's election. But I didn’t do this because I don’t want to be a part of an environment that tears each other down and scrutinizes against the opinions of individuals.
Although we all like to think of ourselves as a little bit better than the person sitting across from us, the truth is that we have allowed our society to make us feel scared. We hide from what we really want, to receive what society proclaims we “need” in order to live a safe and secure life full of happiness and success. At the end of the day, no matter how wealthy you are, if you’re black, white, muslim, female, religious, not religious, gay, straight, young or old, we are all just humans trying to figure out where things went wrong and how to get back to a better and more desirable lifestyle. We all know the truth, and we’ll admit it to ourselves but we are never able to act upon the wrong in this world because we are always so concerned about the response of another confused, sad, and frustrated human.
There’s no doubt that within the next for years America is going to change. It could be drastic or a slow movement, but either way changes were going to be made regardless. From here there are really only two directions in which we can take. We can fear the future and walk on eggshells, waiting for everything to crumble, or we can lift our heads up a little bit higher, learn to be a little kinder, and come together to truly, indefinitely make America great again on our own.
The choice is ours. Everyday counts for something. And it’s as simple as projecting our thoughts rather than burying them within us.
