November 9th, 2016 was possibly one of the most universally depressing days for students and professors on UMass Amherst’s campus. The day was gray, damp, and cold, and an air of hopelessness was everywhere as students walked around campus with their heads down.
For those of us who were not Trump supporters, we had just spent the night watching our country elect a man whose entire campaign was built on racism, sexism, homophobia, and hatred. For those who were, it was a victory as they felt that their voices were finally being heard by politicians in Washington. For those of us who were a female, or a minority, or an immigrant or a member of the LGBTQIA community, November 9th was a day of mourning because of what we feared would be our future.
During my first class, my professor sat there in the dark, talking to us about how all of his friends would be affected by Trump’s presidency, and how so many other people we did not know would suffer. About how movements like Black Lives Matter were in danger of losing any progress they may have made in the past three years. About how people were in danger of dying.
I sat there in my first class of the day, stared at the blank, white wall and wondered how I could fight this feeling. This universal feeling of depression, anger, and hatred that was permeating campus. I had no idea where to start, but I just knew I wanted to fight. Fight anyone who wanted to wreck the progress we had made in politics.
As the week went on, the hatred grew and spread. Protests broke out across America, both violent and nonviolent. Social media was full of columns, tweets, Instagrams, and Facebook statuses about how horrible the next four years would be. I took part in the hatred too, tweeting about how Donald Trump was not my president and thinking everyone who thought this election was a victory did not understand the impact of his presidency.
Trump supporters are feeding into this hate and spewing their own back at us. I have read far too many posts by both men and women about how we just need to shut up and suck it up; that our protests are meaningless because we have no real reason to fight; and that Trump will save our country, unlike “crooked” Hillary. They refuse to acknowledge the fear of women, minorities, anyone who is LGBTQIA, or immigrants. They do not see the fear, because they are only focusing on how they will benefit from this presidency.
This fear is created because we are living in a nation of hate that contains no empathy. As I watch people protest in NYC; Portland, Oregon; and my own campus, I see people fighting for love and empathy. I see people fighting for their rights to their own bodies, their own futures, and their own homes. We are not ignorant Liberals, we are people searching for a way to hold onto the equality we have been fighting for since we were given a right to vote.
Trump supporters may not understand, but they should acknowledge our right to be afraid and the need we feel to fight as we watched Trump’s victory be celebrated by hate groups like the KKK. They should also acknowledge our right to fight against the politics and prejudice of the man who is now the most powerful person in our nation. If they refuse to, then that is on them and they cannot say we are fighting for nothing. As I see it, we are fighting for every group that is not lucky enough to be born white, straight, and male in our country. We are fighting for everyone, and we will not stop.
Empathy is worth fighting for.
Equality is worth fighting for.
Love is worth fighting for.
