Hi. I’m a millennial. I’m in college right now, and working an on-campus job for minimum wage. I’m studying, learning, and trying to save money for my future. (It’s going slowly.) I voted in the 2016 presidential election, and I’m confused, scared, sad and angry now. Here’s why.
First of all, I’m not sure my vote actually counted for anything. I know that the two-party system is a winner-take-all system, which means that the candidate with the most votes in a particular district will win the district, and then the elector from the district will vote for that candidate when the electoral college convenes to vote. So, for example, if I voted for Clinton in the election, but my district ended up with a Trump majority, the elector that represents my district will cast their vote for Trump. I wonder what the use was in voting if the election turned out this way anyways, and even though Clinton won the popular vote, the electors are actually going to elect Trump because of this system.
Second of all, I’m worried about my access to birth control, and even though it’s unlikely that I’ll need it, I’d like to have that safety net there for me. To widen the scope, I realize I’m not the only person in the U.S. that could benefit from birth control and that millions of women—some of whom rely on birth control in their day-to-day lives—are experiencing this same fear. Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, promised to defund Planned Parenthood and overturn Roe v. Wade. As many people know, 97% of Planned Parenthood’s health services go to preventing unintended pregnancies before they happen. This means providing sex education as well as affordable birth control to women and families all over the country. For many people, the loss of funds would result directly in restricted access to reproductive care.
I’m worried about my friends and my own safety. In this past week, I’ve heard about racial slurs being thrown around, death threats being shouted at minorities, white supremacy surging, and—in one case told to me by a friend—rocks being thrown at a person in an Obama t-shirt. I could go on and on about every individual case of hatred that’s happened in the past few days, but that would be futile. While clearly not everyone believes this is acceptable behavior, a significant portion of Trump supporters have been emboldened by his election and are choosing to be violent, bigoted, and threatening towards minorities. As a human being with a functioning conscience, this is unacceptable to me, and I’d like everyone who feels threatened to know that if there is any way I can use my privilege to help them, I am here. I am willing.
But most of all, I’m worried about us as a country. I keep thinking about the children’s book written by Masterson Elementary Students, “September 12: We Knew Everything Would Be All Right”. I’m worried that the deep divide between people in this country will continue to get worse because of this racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and deep fear. I’m worried that as a country, we’re going to be unable or unwilling to accept others. I’m worried that with the hateful rhetoric that continues to be thrown around, that maybe everything won’t be all right. I fear that some wounds are too deep to heal, but I hope differently. The question still sits in the back of my mind: will everything still be all right?
