Facebook is in quite a tizzy this morning over the results of the election and I think it brings up some interesting points of conversation. The majority of my news feed is people expressing their disgust and disbelief, however only one of my Facebook friends has addressed a question I think is important to address, why did Trump win when we were so certain Hillary would?
I think the answer can be seen in Facebook itself. The posts from Hillary supporters that are flooding our news feeds expressing anger towards people who voted for Trump, condemning them as uncaring, backward thinking racists, homophobes, and sexists. While this may be true of the Trump supporters the media has chosen to focus on, those are not the majority of voters. But the voice of the majority has not been heard on social media because the vocal left has systematically verbally torn apart those who dare to say they supported Trump.
If you look at the demographics of social media users, the majority voted for Hillary (or is too young to vote). The minority on social media was afraid of raising their voice. Democrats are feeling much like the white person who becomes shocked that racism still exists, saying "Why didn't you tell us you felt this way?" The response has been the same as any minority, because they didn't feel that it was safe for them to do so. I think that both sides can learn from how this election played out and how uncomfortable people were in talking about it. Maybe this feeling of not being comfortable voicing their opinion will help Republicans to see the same issue for minorities in our country.
I am hopeful for our country because I believe that this election has brought to light real problems in our country. The bias of the media that portrayed a landslide win for Hillary can now be seen; the issues of race, the LGTBQ+ community, and the economy; the divisions between people created by this election, and the list goes on.
The question now remains, how do we the people respond? We know that Trump supporters are on board and ready to contribute to President-elect Trump's mission to Make America Great Again, but that can only happen if those who didn't support him will help. Now that the election is over, fighting against the other side won't create the change that the left desires, but if the two sides can come together and put aside their differences for the good of the country, maybe then we can make some real changes. Up until this point, the American people have been asked to choose between two options, now we can begin to find solutions for the problems both sides addressed. Trump is a businessman, he knows that compromise is essential to making things happen, perhaps for the first time in a long time the two parties can begin to work together.
Regardless of whether or not your side won, please refrain from gloating or ranting. Instead of focusing our energy on the things that divide, let's instead focus on creating a better future that makes our nation great for all Americans.