In less than two weeks, President-Elect Donald J. Trump will take the Oath of Office and begin his term as president.
Because of the election that made him the president-elect, our country is very divided. The difference between conservatives and liberals has never been more prominent. We can’t seem to agree on any social or economic issues, and it has caused a major rift and a lot of tension between the two sides. Add on to this the major discontent with the electoral college system, and there’s quite a problem with America.
I fear for the future of our great nation. As a young Democrat who’s being faced with a Republican-controlled executive, a Republican-dominated legislature, and a soon-to-be Republican-dominated judiciary, I can’t help but be afraid of what’s to come. I fear Trump’s agenda and a government controlled entirely by one party, but more importantly, I fear the American people and the amount of power they have. The American electorate has the ability to drastically alter the course of this nation and the lives of its people, and this time we’ve chosen a man who has preached nothing but hate for the last year and a half. Is this really what America wants? Do the American people really support the racism, homophobia, and xenophobia preached by our next president? Are straight, white, Christian, and male Americans really so intent on feeling superior to others that they want to strip others of their fundamental freedoms and set us back a hundred years?
I expected better from this nation. I grew up believing that I lived in a country that was free from hatred, where you could be anything you wanted to be, where all men and women were created equal. I believed that I lived in a country with the best political system in the world, where progress was inevitable, where a woman could be president, where everyone had the right to live in safety. But most importantly, I believed in the humanity of this nation, in the inherent goodness of the American people.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that maybe I was wrong about the America I live in. Maybe the American people aren’t as fundamentally good as I believed them to be. We had the chance to do something really great in November, and elect a president who would ensure that all people are created equal at last. But we didn’t. We voted for hatred and inequality.
I don’t know what the problem is. I don’t know why this inequality exists. I don’t know why those in power refuse to listen to the voices of the people shouting for equality. I don’t know why 46% of Americans voted to keep up, even to strengthen, these massive inequalities.
But I do know that something needs to change. We can’t just sit idly by and watch as we, and our peers, continue to be stripped of their rights and valued less than others in society.
In this time of great turmoil, and as our new president takes office, we must be united against this hatred. Only then can true progress be achieved. I fully believe that if we work together, and if we keep fighting, things will get better. Progress doesn’t have to stop just because the election didn’t go our way.
