*This article is an opinion piece about my own personal views on the resuslts of the U.S. election, it doesn’t represent the views of all Her Campus writers*
I don’t know how to begin to express my thoughts on this election. I want to apologize for my country. I want to scream at my country. I want to cry for my country. I’ve done all three since finding out that America’s next president, my next president, will be Donald Trump.
It feels disgusting to type. That’s not who I voted for. I’ve been dying to vote for president my entire life, and I was thrilled that in my first presidential election I would be able to cast my vote for America’s first female president. I was convinced Hillary Clinton would win. She had to win. No one would actually let a hatemongering, racist, sexist, xenophobic demagogue actually win the presidency, right?
Apparently not. Trump got a large enough coalition of voters to elect him president. Sure, not everyone who voted for Trump shares all of his insane views; many people chose to vote for him based on one or two core issues about which they agreed with him. Yet all of his voters showed a willingness to excuse his other views and horrid behavior when they voted for him. That I do not understand. That I cannot respect.
America is by no means perfect. But I thought we were progressing. We’d elected our first black president, and gay marriage had finally become legal in all 50 states. But this feels like a massive step backwards. We are turning back towards hate and intolerance. That’s a future that terrifies me.
I’m scared for my country’s future, but as an educated, middle class white woman, I won’t be as negatively affected by Trump’s rule as many. I think of all of the immigrant families who fear deportation to countries in turmoil, Muslim women who fear wearing their hijab under the Trump regime, LGBTQ+ citizens who just gained their right to marry, and so many more people who now fear for their very safety. It makes me sick to think of all of the people whose lives will be changed in awful ways because of Trump’s presidency.
The day after the election, myself and many of my friends felt resigned and subdued. We are still actting like we are in mourning. In a way, we are. We are mourning for our country’s future. It is as if a national tragedy has happened. We are scared and devastated and disbelieving.
Yet what I keep coming back to is a tweet by Lin-Manuel Miranda. In response to a tweet betting he’s moving to Canada as a result of the election, he says, “F**k that. I love this country and there’s more work to do than ever.” Americans must rebuild and fight for America. We must fight against Trump’s policies every step of the way. As appealing as it might be to stay in England for the next four years, I know I have to go back to America. I care too much about my country to leave it without doing my part to help keep it from destruction.
Americans can still protest and influence policy. We can create movements that will lead to change. America may have elected a frightening leader, but we will keep fighting. Now is not the time to give up hope on America. Now is the time to get to work.