Before I begin the point of my article, I want you to ask yourself two questions:
“Why did I open this link?” and “What emotion did I feel when I read the headline?”
For some of you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you felt shocked or angry -- especially if you know me. If you don’t know me, maybe you are to see why I would possibly vote for Trump. But I’ll let you into a small piece of my world.
I consider myself a very open-minded and accepting liberal. I believe in equality and social justice. However, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how easy it would be to vote for Donald Trump.
At first, I would always think to myself,"Who in their right mind would even consider voting for Trump?"
Every time I watched TV and I heard “Make America Great Again” followed by Donald Trump's hateful words about ~almost all~ people in certain groups, I felt like smashing the TV with a hammer. Not to mention the fact that every morning on my commute to work I'd see a local plumbing store with three Trump signs in the window, next to a spray painted area where those signs first stood.
Oh, and don’t let me forget about the several lawns in my town supporting Trump which I would have loved to have thrown trash on. I found it so difficult to refrain from buying spray paint and covering up the whole window of the local plumbing store and to stop myself from dumping trash on the local residents' lawn.
I'll be honest, I’m terrified at the fact Trump is the nominee for a major political party because it makes it more real that he has the possibility of running this country. But the fact that it was so hard to stop myself from doing those things because of the anger towards the ideals of Trump, scared me even more.
Then I remembered a conversation I had with my roommate about fear leading to hatred. I started to understand better as to why I was feeling the way I was -- full of hate and anger. It was because I am afraid. I am afraid of what might happen.
One day, on my way home from work, I read the words “Make America Great Again” and asked myself a question I see on the Internet all the time,“What time are we talking about? When was America really great?”
Being a history major, I’ve been able to see the all good times, as well as the bad times of our country.
For instance, it wasn’t until August 1920 that women were permitted the right to vote and it wasn't even until 1965 for African-Americans. Interracial marriages weren't legal until 1967, and not to mention the “better late than never” legalization of gay marriage in 2015.
On the contrary, we’ve had many great leaders who have helped shape our country in becoming one of the greatest world power countries.
But what makes us a “world power” country?
Is it because we thrive economically? Is it because we are industrialized? Could it be that we're more progressive than other countries? Or is it a combination of all those and more?
Some of you may think that we aren’t any of the above and I’ll tell you quite frankly, you're right.
However, you are also wrong.
Even though it has taken longer than it should have to finally obtain these rights, we still accomplished them nonetheless. Yes, we still have a long way to go -- in terms of fixing the economy and distinguishing privileges from rights.
We, as a country, really have come a long way throughout our time in history.
I don’t intend on living in a time where we repeat the past and go back to our hateful ways just because we don’t understand the color of a man, the love between two people, or the capability of a woman.
So, even though it would be easier to give into hate and possibly easier to vote for Trump due to my fears -- I won’t.
I won't be voting for Donald Trump because I’m not going to let that fear I have inside of me lead to hatred and change the morals I currently associate myself with because I know in the end, love conquers all.
