The morning after Election Day, and I don’t mean at 2 a.m. on November 9th when we all learned what our country’s fate would be, I mean at 8 a.m. when we all woke up after a troubled sleep to start our days, was a weird one to say the least. When I woke up, for the first few seconds it felt like a normal day, then reality hit: Donald Trump had won the 2016 presidential election just a few hours earlier. I checked the news on my phone just to make sure that it wasn’t some sort of mistake. I had several texts from family members asking if I was doing okay, all to which I answered no. My eyes were slightly bloodshot from crying during the live election results. I had hoped so badly that it was nothing but a bad dream.
I wasn’t sure what to expect in the one class I had that day. My professor looked at us with empathy written all over her face. She told us that she had received several emails from students saying they didn’t feel good so they wouldn’t be attending class today, and she asked us if we were all okay.
“You guys look so sad,” she said to us.
And we were. At least it felt that way. There were the students who were more vocal about their anger and their disappointment and then there were the ones who stayed silent, their feelings written plainly on their face. It didn’t feel like the aftermath of an election, it felt like the aftermath of a death of a close friend. Nobody really knew what to say at first. When people eventually spoke up, it escalated to anger or sadness very quick.
Walking around campus that day was hard. Doing anything was hard. I tried to tell myself “It’s okay, everything will be okay,” but I knew I was lying to myself. As much as I wanted them to be, things weren’t okay at all. I truly believe the results of this election came as a shock to everyone, even those who support Donald Trump. For this reason, the reality hit us harder and knocked the wind out of us. Some of us still haven’t recovered. That day I couldn’t eat my lunch because I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t go on social media without starting to cry. I felt like it was the start of a whole new world, and not one that I wanted to live in.
The thing that scares me the most about Donald Trump winning this election (I refuse to call him the “President of the United States” because he will never be my president) is the fact that now every racist, sexist, xenophobe, rapist, and bully in this country feels validated. Their new leader promotes and encourages all of their beliefs, which gives them an open window to act on these beliefs, endangering the lives of many as they do. I am scared. I am scared for fellow women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, Muslims, sexual assault victims, disabled people and the children of this country. It breaks my heart that these are people who will now live in fear of the person who is supposed to be their voice and their representation in this country.
Here’s to hoping that not everyday is a November 9th. Here’s to hoping that we are able to move forward and fight back for what we believe is right for our country. We need to fight for the rights and the protection of people who do not fall into the category of “heterosexual, white and male.” There will be more tears and more sadness and more hopelessness, I’m sure, but November 9th is over. Now is the time to unite and fight this hatred together.