As perhaps one of five Democrats in South Carolina, my Facebook newsfeed is constantly bombarded with pro-Trump statuses, Breitbart stories, and complaints about “whiny” liberals. Usually, I do fine simply scrolling through them, sometimes even stopping to read for a moment. People have opinions, and they are entitled to them. Yet, since Trump’s victory last Tuesday, things on social media have been much more difficult than usual. I find myself having to unfriend more and more of the people I previously would scroll through with little to no discomfort.

Now, when I go on Facebook and see someone I went to middle school with defending her vote for Trump I cannot help but think- wow, I must mean nothing to this person. Not me, specifically, but women and people of color. As a woman, consent and my right to not have my p**** grabbed by random billionaires must mean nothing to them. As a person of color, individuality and my right to be more than just some black girl from the inner city must mean nothing to them. And all my friends who are Latino, Muslim, gay or lesbian- they must fall in that “nothing” category as well.

When I do talk with my few friends who voted for Trump they assure me that his comments about women do bother them and that they do not think all black people live in the ghetto or that all Mexicans are rapists- "that’s ridiculous," they say.

And I believe them.

But I also believe that they have elected to put policies before people, to put the letter R before the civil liberties of others, and to put their own personal economic interests over the safety of their brothers and sisters in marginalized communities. While I think Trump voters are complex, and that they deserve dignity and attention, I cannot accept the widespread false thought that being silent in the face of injustice somehow does not communicate something critical about one's character. If you say you are not racist, or sexist, or xenophobic but you voted for Trump, then the hard truth is you are selfish. You are apathetic.

This does not make me hate you as some might think. More than anything it makes me very sad. It makes me confront the scary fact that I have been, for the entirety of my life, grossly overestimating the level of compassion living within Americans. That is a hard thing to confront, while also trying to confront the fact that a man I think will be devastating for the character of this country has just become the President-elect. It is hard to confront while also thinking of all the women who were sexually assaulted by Trump. What will their lives look like under his presidency? And my black brother, tall, muscular, and of a dark complexion who just left home for college, what will his life be under a Trump presidency?

That is the fantastic burden of liberalism: having your thoughts consistently consumed by the well-being of others.

So to the Trump voters out there, when someone unfollows you on Facebook try and keep the snarky thoughts and comments to a minimum, that person is taking a liberal sick-day, putting her own sanity and happiness before that of those around her, and this is okay. If you do care at all then take comfort in the fact that she will most likely eventually send you a friend request again. In the end, she is liberal, and we don't have arbitrary rules about who is allowed to be heard and not heard.