The past few months have been stressful, crazy, and unbelievable. Even though the country was faced with two unfavorable candidates, the country chose proudly who they wanted to be the next commander-in-chief on Nov. 8, 2016. Some people were joyous and relieved, others were terrified and shocked. I was a part of the second group. If you do not understand why I cried along with others, let me explain it to you:
First, let me say that I am not upset if you are Republican. You have your beliefs that you stand for in this country. I respect you having a firm belief in United States Constitution and conservative beliefs. Also, if you view Donald Trump as someone who can truly "make America great again", then that’s fine. But I view him as someone who has disrespected numerous groups of people.
If you think I am overreacting, please continue to sit down while I explain. As an African American woman, I worry. No, not like I worry about if I am going to do well on a test. It is more than that. I worry about systematic racism, I worry about someone throwing my application in the trash can when they first see my name, I worry about not getting hired or not being qualified for a job. I worry that if I go to a gas station by myself, someone will approach me and threaten my life, all because I am black. I worry about someone seeing me as a stereotype. I, along with other African American friends of mine and minorities, worry about these things, and this election seemed like we went backward in history.
I cried because the results of the election were a big slap in the face to all of us who were shocked. To me. To my friends. To Hillary. To the Obama’s. I thought there was no way in the world people could vote for someone who instilled fear and separatism into people’s minds. I cried because it felt as though hate won.
I cried because so many people that I knew who I thought would never, ever vote for Trump, voted for him. So to me, that sent a message and filled me with mixed feelings. I received the perception that they think my life and other minorities' lives do not matter. I saw so much on social media. For example, I saw people who were considering leaving the country because they were scared out of their minds. My friend told me that her teacher's child asked if us black people have to go back to slavery. Some Muslim women were told not to wear their hijabs to school, because their parents were scared of what might happen to them. I saw someone on Snapchat saying “I would rather have a racist run the country, than a criminal”, well that is easy for you to say, isn’t it? Unfortunately I have to worry about stuff like that, so excuse me if I care about my life and what happens to people of my race and other people who are affected by this. People were scared, terrified, and confused not because of who lost the election, but because of who won.
If you still do not see why I am upset and scared out of my mind, then I have no idea what to tell you. But as for me, an African American woman living in 2016, I cried on Election Night 2016, and this day will go down in history as just that.
