When I look back on my childhood, I look back lovingly, knowing deep in my heart that I was well-loved and well-cared for. I was raised by a single Latina mother who worked multiple jobs at a time to provide for me and my brother. And yet, while my mom spent a lot of her time working, I never once felt neglected or forgotten, and I’m incredibly thankful for that.
In retrospect, I became the woman I am today because of the community that helped raise me during those formative pre-teen/teenage years.
You are part of that community.
Growing up, you taught me to be compassionate, honest and imaginative. You taught me that I should stand up for myself against the bullies at school and more importantly, I should stand up for others when needed.
You were always proud of my accomplishments and you praised me for my intellect, both in the classroom and in the “real world.”
When I sat in my living room and wrote a heartfelt letter to President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, because his journey to the White House impacted and inspired me, you didn’t discourage me. Months later, when I then received a large manila envelope from President Obama himself, I only remember hearing words of congratulations.
When an anti-Trump political op-ed I wrote for my high school newspaper in 2016 sparked outrage among Trump-supporting parents, you applauded my courage.
I don’t know if your conservative political convictions were as strong back then as they are now or if you simply were indifferent to my opinions. What I do know is that you praised me for being a strong, smart young woman. And in 2016, that was all that mattered.
That brings us to 2020. Over these past four years, I’ve been extremely outspoken about how I feel about Donald Trump. At my core, I believe he is not someone we Americans should look to for leadership. More than ever, I’ve been doing my part on social media to share information and encourage my family, friends and followers to see Trump’s lack of morality.
I know many of you choose to overlook his racist, xenophobic, sexist, bigoted and hateful behavior because “his policies and politics are what matter.” Even Trump has said that he doesn’t “frankly have time for total political correctness… oftentimes it’s fun, it’s kidding, we have a good time.”
But here’s my issue with that reasoning.
You encouraged me to be compassionate to others, yet you overlook Trump’s racist rhetoric dating as far back as 1973. Even though many of you are also Latinx, you choose to look past the many instances where he has insulted Mexico– my birthplace.
Trump claims he is “the least racist person in the world,” but he continuously attacks other races that aren’t his own.
His xenophobic/Islamophobic rhetoric has led to an increase in hate crimes in the U.S., with researchers finding statistical correlations between Trump’s anti-Muslim tweets and subsequent anti-Muslim hate crimes, which have been occurring more often since 2016 than during Bush’s presidency after 9/11.
Trump says that Black Lives Matter is a “terrible name and is so discriminatory” and affirms the right-wing idea that the Black Lives Matter organization is a domestic terrorist group that is aiming to destroy America. It’s important to note that most supporters of Black Lives Matter have separated the anti-racism “Black lives matter” movement from the official Black Lives Matter group, where two of the founders have asserted that they do consider themselves trained Marxists. PolitiFact has noted that movements evolve and “Black Lives Matter’s ‘emphatic support for gender identity politics sets it apart from historical Marxism’.” The statement “Black lives matter” is NOT racist or anti-American.
Related: Why Saying #AllLivesMatter Misses the Point
When asked to renounce and condemn white supremacy at the first Presidential Debate on September 29, Trump sidestepped the question and instead told the white supremacist group known as the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by”.
Pandemic-wise, Trump has downplayed the threat of the Coronavirus since January while other countries have managed to contain the virus and taken actions to aid their citizens. The Trump Administration’s stimulus checks barely helped Americans that actually qualified to receive them. And now that Trump himself contracted the Coronavirus (after not mandating mask usage at his events), he tweeted “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” Encouraging people to not be afraid of a disease that has killed regardless of whether someone is healthy or sick, old or young, rich or poor is extremely distasteful and offensive to those that have lost someone.
You raised me to love and accept others in the way that Jesus would.
But you can’t claim to be a Christian when you vote for a man that does NOT love and accept others the way Jesus would. A man who instead advocates for discrimination of others. The Trump administration consistently attempts to decrease protections and openly encourage discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. Ask yourself- what would Jesus do?
You raised me to be a strong, smart young woman.
But have you considered how harmful it is to see you support someone that brags about grabbing women by the p***y, then brushes it off as “locker room talk?” At least 26 women have publicly accused Trump of sexual harassment/rape/misconduct, but the conversation always is turned around on how Biden is a “serial pedophile,” despite there being no actual evidence to support that claim.
Trump claims he has done “more for women than just about any President in history,” but he enacts policies that cut back on women’s rights and nominated Amy Coney Barrett as the new Supreme Court Justice, a woman who is anti-feminist.
Separating a candidate’s personality and morality from their policies is not possible.
When I look back on this time, I want to look back and know I took a stance on the right side of justice, even if it leads to a rift between me and you.
So yes- I will continue to speak out against Donald Trump and his supporters because you raised me to stand up against bullies.
In the past, I understood having a difference in opinion when it came to certain aspects of politics. I respected your opinions and you respected mine.
However, this election is no longer a matter of politics. It’s a matter of equality. It’s a matter of humanity.
And I’m siding with humanity.