Disorienting would be the only adjective that I could use to fully describe this last week. I would never describe myself as a political person, but what I am is a human being. And like all human beings, emotions such as anxiety and fear can fill my mind when uncertainty enters into my life. After November 8th and the announcement of Donald Trump as our 45th President, anxiety and fear didn't fill my mind, they overtook it. As a result, hope and logic were largely overshadowed by an absolute fear of the unknown. What will happen as a result of a Donald Trump's presidency remains uncertain, but what I do know is that we have failed as a nation by accepting fear and rejecting each other.
We have stopped seeing the beauty in sharing ideas and bouncing off of each other by looking through and asserting that the country is doomed as a consequence of the most recent election, neglecting the good that I believe is in all people. That good has been largely masked by fear of the "other" and embodied in the scapegoating of groups that deviate from our man-made social circles; many people frame immigrants as carriers of violence, many blame third-party voters for Trump's victory over Hilary Clinton's, and a lot of people blame racism. Regardless of who you decided to blame for the problems that you see in our country, it is unquestionable that "the other", or at least our fear of it, has destroyed a nation's sense of acceptance. Even worse, it has restricted us from coming together as citizens, neighbors and people so that we can overcome our fear of each other in this disorienting time.
It seems that we as people only see differing points of view as evil that encroaches on our beliefs that surely are the answers to all societal dilemmas. But another dilemma arises from this perspective; we stopped seeing each other as human beings. Continuous protests throughout cities like Chicago, Boston, and my hometown of Milwaukee only serve to mark this point in history as a confusing shift in the political, social, and human landscape. Nevertheless, it is at this point we have to prove ourselves wrong and force ourselves together so that we can come out from the shadows of our uncertainties and insecurities.
We can overcome division if we actually start taking the steps towards conversation. Interaction between differing ideologies may be the only chance that we have as people to erase the same purge of human dignity that was this whole election. We can do this. We can succeed in being the nation that truly stands for freedom. I cannot confirm that the United States of America will ever truly stand united, or even make the necessary steps to do so. But I am certain that if we do not work together and talk with each other, we eliminate our vision of the good in all people and the beauty of human life.
