Last week in my Violence in the Media class, a fellow peer of mine shared an incredibly disturbing video titled “Unfiltered Voices From Donald Trump’s Crowds.” The video features the crowds at several of Trump’s speeches; these crowds are made up of individuals that seem to carry an incredible amount of anger and hatred toward other innocent human beings within themselves. These individuals said so many awful, hurtful things that I honestly could not believe they were capable of saying. I never thought it was possible to hold so much hatred within oneself. I felt tears come into my eyes as an enraged-looking woman hostilely said, “If you don’t speak English and don’t contribute, get out!” Here’s the video below, followed by a few reasons why the Trump campaign is enough to move me to tears:
1. That’s my parents you’re talking about.
As a young Egyptian Muslim, I take pride in the fact that I have two immigrants for parents. It hurts me to hear people insult all immigrants and angrily profess that they should all be kicked out of America. In fact, the majority of Americans are immigrants—hello, that’s what America is in the first place. A melting pot of cultures.
2. Is this really the role model we want our children to be looking up to?
Regardless of what your political beliefs are, it’s hard for me to believe that someone would be okay with their children looking up to a man that has the audacity to say “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her” as the President of the United States.
3. How can something that fosters so much hatred within people be “great” for America?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen as many hateful people together in one area as I did in that video of Trump’s crowds. Trump undeniably brings out the worst in people; manipulates them by targeting their inner fears and encourages them to place the blame on those who are unlike them in any way, whether it is race or religion or both.
4. He has literally no political experience
I know I’m not the only one that would prefer if America’s President had significant political background. We have no proof that Trump has any idea what he’s talking about regarding the government—in fact, we have plentiful proof of the exact opposite. America is already in a bad enough state; we don’t need an ignorant President making things worse.
5. Having him as president means taking a step back, when America needs to be taking steps forward
Society has come so far in moving away from racism and towards acceptance of others (not nearly far enough, but significant improvement has been made). Donald Trump’s entire campaign is built on the idea of white supremacy in order to “Make America Great Again.” How can we expect to progress away from racism when our President intends to “build a wall” to keep Mexicans out of the country?
I know I’m not alone when I say that I’m incredibly concerned for the future of our country. I sincerely hope that when this election is over some of the anger that has risen toward minorities because of the Trump Campaign dies down. Instead, America needs to move towards a society filled with love and tolerance.
