For the past few months I've been abroad I've heard the same response to my US nationality over and over again.

Even without having won any real elections, "Donald Trump" has become synonymous with "American" to many of those I've encountered in Europe, and that strikes me as a problem.

As a supporter of equal rights for all humans and a hater of hatred and unnecessary violence, I am firmly against Donald Trump and everything he stands for. But even with my political standing aside, I'm shocked at how easily those outside the US have been able to accept his ideology as ours.

I like to think that his stances on immigration and civil rights and women don't reflect the thoughts of the majority in the US. I like to think that he couldn't become President because we, as an American people, don't support his type of bigotry. But thus far, I continue to be proven wrong, as he rises in the polls and shows no signs of slowing down. And in an even more disturbing chain of events, no one seems to be all that surprised.

If our onlookers -- like all the French, Spanish, and English I've talked to -- find it so easy to imagine Trump as the "typical American," what does that say about who we are as a people?

I realize I'm probably preaching to the choir. Those of us who don't support Trump are equally appalled at his success, along with his ideas and hateful speeches. Those who do support him believe that they are equally in the right as those who don't; that's just the nature of politics. Chances are, if you support Trump, you believe that he will make America great again, because you ascribe to his idea of what America is.

And unfortunately, I think that is the root of the problem.

I believe the United States of America is a place for freedom, and that means there will be people different than you, but they are just as entitled to freedom as you are. It does not mean you are "free" to exact hatred and violence because you disagree with someone. It does mean you can express your feelings in a reasonable manner without inciting hate or violence. It does mean you can disagree.

I believe the United States of America is a place to encourage diversity, not squash it. I believe that our culture (which is a combination of others as it is) can exist in harmony with others, and I do not believe that it is in any danger of being "overrun" by the cultures of those interested in immigrating.

Of course, those are just my beliefs. I hope there are others who share them, and I feel that there must be.

But mostly, I hope there are enough of us to defeat the idea that Trump, with his mentality of white-male supremacy, embodies what America is.

After all, if Trump does become President, we can blame no one but ourselves. He can't win an election without votes, but all it takes is a vote for anyone else to keep it from happening.