It’s so quiet now… ten days after the election and I’ve finally gathered the courage to write. Anything that would have left my lips before today would have been coated in anger, fear, and disgust. Contrary to popular belief, those emotions would not have been directed to Trump; they would be towards the people who are simply untouched and unbothered by the results of this election. However, with a clear head and heavy heart, I would like you to read this letter with an open mind:
To the Unbothered,
There have been a total of 44 Presidents so far, and of course there were some that a lot of Americans believe shouldn’t have been elected. With that loss I can imagine feelings of sadness and anger, none of which I was old enough to experience. But this past Tuesday I was old enough and I felt nothing but fear. The type of fear that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The fear that accelerates your heart, makes your hands tremble, and forces tears down your check. I wasn’t alone in this. Millions of people, specifically women and minority groups, felt this way and I would like to explain why.
Even if Trump never gets a law passed during his time in office he still is the face of the United States of America. His views and beliefs are still being plastered throughout the states and around the world. The racism, sexism, bigotry, violence, and fear of “other” that he encourages is and will continue to be seen by some as okay… and it’s not! The Islamic community is labeled as terrorist; a Muslim women has recently gotten her hijab ripped off. People have been yelling out racist slurs, I as a women am terrified that a man might think it’s okay to put his hands on me because of “who he is”. The Hispanic community is afraid that their families will be deported. The list goes on.
Unbothered people, I want you to understand that because you are privileged these things tend to fly over your head. Being privileged isn’t your fault; you didn’t ask to be born in the body or circumstances that you are currently in. However, knowing your privilege and what you do with that knowledge is the important factor here. I had a conversation with my boss the night of the election. We both were crying and she said something that made me look at her differently: “at the end of the day, I am a straight white female, I know I’m privileged, I understand that, so not a lot of things are going to affect my day to day life… however, there are people I love that will be affected, so I need to do my part and be an advocate and ally to do everything I can to protect them.”
If the results of the election did not affect you personally, I’m sure you know someone that it did. So telling people to just move on with their life and not to focus on something they can’t change is not the way to go. Please try to have a conversation and understand where we are coming from before dismissing how we feel.
Thank You