I remember waking up around 4:00am and seeing on my laptop a bright red headline that said, “Trump wins the election” I immediately began to sob. I felt as if I was in the twilight zone, and to ease the pain I forced myself to go back to bed.
It’s November 9th and I have cried four times so far. As of 10:00am, I knew eight of my friends who had cried as well. My best friend texted me saying that his brother, who is gay, called him sobbing because he’s terrified for his safety. This is not America. This is not what we stand for.
I am a privileged white woman who is fearful for her safety and the future of this country because at this very moment, we are a divided nation.
I woke up again around 8:00am and began to tear up again as I scrolled through my Twitter newsfeed. There was so much hatred and cruelty being posted. I couldn’t believe what was being written. I saw people who live in my area saying they’re “surrounded by “f***king morons” because Hillary received the electoral vote from the state I reside in. I saw young men saying now that Trump has won the election they will “grab women by the p***y” because if he can, they can. I saw posts telling people to “grow up and deal with it” or “leave the country already.” I saw people bullying others by commenting on their weight because of their political views.
Friendships have ended today. People have deleted others off social media. People are rioting. People are burning the American flag. But the worst of it all, people are fearful for their lives and their rights. I saw ugly. I saw evil. I saw ignorance. This is not America. This is not what we stand for.
Aside from the horrific tweets full of hostility, contradictory, and lack of education, there were posts that simply broke my heart.
People feel that they need to betray their religion so that they are safe in this country. We are now living in fear. We are now changing who we are so society doesn’t harm us.
Now, not every Trump supporter is racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and sexist, just like all of Hillary’s supporters aren’t “criminals.” But today I saw the humanity of some of the people I’ve known my whole life vanish. This goes beyond disliking Clinton and Trump. People are going against each other, to the point where minorities are fearful for their safety in this country at a time where we need to unite more than ever.
Obama said it perfectly, “This is not an ordinary election.” People are frightened, angry, hurt, and devastated while others are elated, joyful, happy, and excited. Polar opposites. This election was black and white. And now we are left alone. Our nation is failing because we are working against each other and it needs to stop now.
Stop what you’re doing for a moment, close your eyes, and take a deep breath. Realize that no matter what your political views are, Donald Trump is going to be our 45th president. It’s terrifying for some and amazing for others, but all in all, this is the case. We need to stop bashing each other based on our opinions. We need to stop hating one another and resorting to violence. We need to stop pushing those we love and care about away because of whom they support. We need to stop fighting with each other and come together. Everyone is so overwhelmed with emotion that no one is realizing that we are ruining our country. It’s been about six days since we found out Trump won and already people have negatively affected our nation. This is not the outcome I was hoping for either, I promise you that, but we need to take a deep breath and learn to face the results by coming together as a nation rather than continue to fall apart. All we can do is have faith in Trump and be hopeful that his supporters (the one’s who indeed are racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and sexist) will not think that just because this man is president they can behave in an inhumane manner. All we can do is have a little faith. (Okay, maybe a lot.)