To all my Republican friends and all the people exhausted of the political posts, I'm not sorry about this one. Important issues need to be talked about.
Not all of Donald Trump's supporters are racist. Many of them voted for him because of their republican stances on issues, because they could not vote for Hillary in good faith, or because they genuinely believe that he is an economic genius who will, in fact, "make America great again"--here's the catch: all of his supporters are not racist, yet they chose to support racism.
Their vote condoned his language, his prejudices, his bigotry, and his hate. Even those that feel and express that their views don't line up with his in those arenas showed America by voting him into office that his language, his prejudices, his bigotry, and his hate are acceptable, and that such ideals can and should be expressed. Donald Trump, who stands for these ideals, will now be the face of America. This is what the world now believes America stands for.
There were multiple, excellently qualified, experienced public officials running for the republican nomination, yet we, as a country, chose him, and our choices are a reflection of who we are. These other candidates similarly stood for protection of 2nd amendment rights, protection of the pro-life stance, stricter immigration laws, and other such generally republican positions on important issues–yet, we chose the candidate who was primarily set apart by his "honesty."
His honesty included classifying all Muslims as dangerous, stating and showing that he does not feel women are deserving of respect, and simply making up facts to fuel the fire of the American people.
This is not the honesty that I hoped the American people would want to hear. In fact, some of this is the honesty that I thought at this point, after having been taught for years how far we had come as a nation, had to be taboo, had to be met with disdain, had to be shut down. But rather, we elected this honesty and this hate for Muslims, for women, for LGBTQ+ communities, for everyone but the white male into the highest office in our land.
It brings me to tears. It would have brought me to tears regardless of whether he had run as a Democrat, Republican, or third party. It's one thing to take stances on controversial issues, but there is no controversy when it comes to basic respect of other humans--or at least I thought there wasn't. I clearly thought wrong.
I'm not sure how you can look a Muslim-American in the eyes and tell them that their citizenship is not as worthy as yours; how you can tell your daughter that if a man says he will "grab you by the pussy" that she should brush it off as "locker-room talk"; how you can tell the LGBTQ+ children who survived the bullying and scrutiny that they faced anywhere from elementary through high school and beyond that they fought for nothing. I'm not sure how you can say any of those things to anyone and then proceed to say that this is the kind of person who should hold the highest office in our land.
I understand voting for your political beliefs, but I cannot grasp how voting to keep your gun, to revert women's reproductive rights, and/or to limit immigration can trump voting for the protection of the underrepresented populations of America. We needed our country to come through for us: to not just say that we are valuable members of society, but to actually show us that we are valuable members of society. We needed votes against bigotry. We showed up to the voting booths hopeful and excited to show the world that love trumps hate, but ended the night feeling disappointed, embarrassed, and forgotten.
Unfortunately, throughout this election season, I have faced racial attacks against me due to the color of my skin suggesting Muslim faith, but I cannot begin to comprehend the fear and grief other, more heavily targeted members of Trump's oppression are facing. I hope that they are able to find the support systems they need to survive the hate that they are facing today.
One positive that has come out of this election season is a nation-wide reopening of a long-forgotten dialogue. The more we talk about it, the more real people feel it is, the more change we can make. The time for anger and grief are over, and the time to push forward is now. We must use this re-ignited flame and let it spread like a forest fire. We must reshape American thinking and ideology and redirect it to what our forefathers and civil rights leaders worked toward. We must fight the good fight and hope that we are in a better place at the end of these 4 years than we are in now.
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." -Elie Wiesel
Pick your side.
