It feels surreal to wake up and see everyone carrying on like normal. I know that about half the country voted for it to be this way, but it doesn’t feel right that everyone’s world is not crashing down around them a little bit. I went to bed before the results were actually called, but I knew that Trump would win. It hit me hard. I knew that some people felt this way, but I truly did not believe that a majority of this country were willing to vote for someone who endorses racism, misogyny, xenophobia and homophobia.
I feel that everything I believe in has been denounced by Trump and his supporters. I value equality, diversity, open-mindedness and a drive to learn and grow. And no matter how you feel about Clinton or Trump’s “policies,” it cannot be denied that Trump’s platform was built and continues to survive on a pedestal of white supremacy and male privilege. He has been endorsed by the KKK and White Nationalists. Trump does not believe that people like me or people like my friends matter. He has been accused of sexual assault a dozen times and yet here we are. This only shows a lack of respect and support for women. And still a woman with decades of experience, a willingness to grow and learn and raw intelligence was told she was not as qualified to be president as a man with no experience and no filter. I was told that intelligent women still can’t lead and that people of color don’t matter as much as white voters, like me, and that disturbs me. I feel like we’ve been pushed back 70 years.
Trump isn’t the only person who terrifies me in the White House. Mike Pence has slashed funding for Planned Parenthood and gave his full support for conversion therapy, a practice that is designed to force LGBTQ youth to be straight, in his home state. Women rely on Planned Parenthood for a number of services, one being cancer prevention. Conversion therapy often leads to suicide. Even though the vice president has less power, Mike Pence still has Trump’s ear.
It is frightening to consider that people simply did not know these things about Trump when they voted for him. Maybe they weren’t able to interpret Trump’s rhetoric as racist, because they have never been forced to think about race before. It’s scarier to know that people knew who Trump was, as a person and as a leader, and chose to vote for him anyway. They thought a flawed, stiff woman was somehow worse than a bigot, a liar and a racist.
But all hope is not lost. Trump does not have an unlimited amount of power, despite it still being alarming. We still have Obama until January. We have to stand together and stand up for what we believe in. We have to refuse to be afraid. When something is happening that we disagree with, we have to make it known that we disagree with it. It is so important that we hold our heads high and support our friends and family who feel they may be in danger from this election. Be positive and be strong.
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