Ever since early Wednesday morning, I have been reading article after article, post after post, about the recent violence and anger which has swept across this nation. Donald Trump won the presidential election. And even though the Electoral College has not technically voted yet, we can hopefully assume that he will win that election too.
To be completely honest, I did not vote for him. I did not vote for Hillary. The person I voted for I did not really support. But that is neither here nor there. Donald Trump won. Congratulations.
To those people who choose to use violence to achieve their means. To those people who gloat over that victory. Please. Act with some decency. We are all human beings. We are all Americans. Can we please pull together for once and try to make do with the cards we have been dealt?
I know that the results of this election were not ideal. The two candidates we had were not ideal. They both claimed to support the ideals which we, as a nation, seem to uphold. Yet they both were involved in controversy. National security was breached. Decency was thrown out the window. Terrible comments were made about other people.
But how will allowing ourselves to descend into disrespectful behavior solve the problem? How will riots and violence achieve the results you wish procure?
They won't; at least not in the way you want them too. They'll only spark more chaos. They'll only cause more grief for this nation.
You wish to be treated equally. You wish to be heard. We hear you. We hear you loud and clear. But your actions, they could use a little work. They don't exactly spread the message you would to be shared.
I am of your kind. I understand some of your grief. Donald Trump has said terrible things about women. About blacks/African Americans. About Latinos. About Arabs.
These are unacceptable. But how will your violence cultivate any respect for your cause? Flipping cars? Running amok on campus (okay, if done in the right way, this could be valid)? Vandalism?
These are not the way.
If you wish to start a human rights movement. Look to the examples which came before. Look to Martin Luther King Jr. Look to Gandhi. Look to Stephen Biko. These men pursued human rights movements nonviolently. They accepted their fate if they were imprisoned. They allowed themselves to be hurt. They suffered harassment. But they continued to push forward.
They helped make the world a better place. Gandhi for those in India, suffering at the hands of the British. For MLK, for the African Americans here in America. Stephen Biko, for those in South Africa.
You want a movement. Yet you do not seem to understand what is necessary. You have the drive. Now set that drive to something more profitable than violence. You can stage a nonviolent protest. Now, please. Please, try to act better.
It will serve you well in the long run.
Thank you. Have a better day that the ones which have recently divided our nation.
