So, it has happened. Donald Trump is now the president. After 18 months of chaos and controversy, Donald Trump has emerged as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States. The 2016 election was quite possibly the ugliest in modern American history, but there is still a lot than can be taken away from it. One, the blanket that has covered the corruption inside the political establishment for so long, has been ripped off, and the nature of how America does politics has been exposed. Two, it has become abundantly clear that Americans on both sides, the left and the right, want change. For better or for worse, candidates like Trump and Bernie Sanders have forged a new era in American politics; One that embraces a complete disregard for political correctness, as well as a lust for populism. But, rarely is the question asked, what does a Donald Trump presidency mean for the American People?
This past presidential election has create the biggest social divide in America in half a century. The people are sick of the status quo, and due to the forceful rhetoric spewed by candidates on both ends of the political spectrum, the American people took sides, creating a huge gap of separation in the middle. A Donald Trump presidency will serve as a true test of unity for the American People. A test to see how well the people of the most powerful nation on Earth will respond to the force of politics separating everybody away from one another.
If America is to make any social progress whatsoever under a Trump administration, then our culture needs to be reminded that change starts with the people. The concept of tolerance is one that needs to be tolerance by people on both sides, the left and the right. Where there is freedom, there will be disagreement. However, what has gone wrong is that we as a nation have let these disagreements become personal. We have started to label people based off of their political beliefs and personal ideologies, other than the character of their actions.
It is time that the citizens of our great nation stop stereotyping each other, and instead, put our differences aside and accept one another. Bigotry comes in many forms that extend well beyond social concepts such as racism. Are there people who voted for Trump because of his bigoted, divisive rhetoric? Absolutely. But on the flip side, there are many people on the left who stereotype all conservatives as racist, hateful human beings. This is simply not true. Bigotry is a problem in all sides of the political spectrum. It is our job as American Citizens to hold each other accountable to spread positivity. There will be many things that the new administration will do that will be out of our control, but dividing the American people up based on race, belief system, ETC., should not be one of them. We should not let a politician control what we as a people can. This is where if we act and act now, we can live in harmony with each other at the very least. This is America, after all, where we have the freedom to disagree. Not every political administration in the world allows their citizens that as a fundamental right, and therefore should not be taken for granted.
