My worst fears came true last night. Our country elected a racist, sexist, xenophobic, sorry excuse for a man. With the votes he received last night, hate won, prejudice won, discrimination won, homophobia won, and sexism won. He says he wants to make our country great again. He says he wants to be a president for all Americans. But everything we have seen up to this point proves the opposite. He doesn’t want to be my president. Nothing in his past gives me confidence that he will speak for me, so don’t tell me otherwise. Don’t tell me I shouldn’t be scared for my future. Don’t tell me I’m overreacting. My feelings are justified.
As a woman, I fear for my safety and for my rights. Our country elected a man that publically admitted he feels he can do whatever he wants to a woman. In a time when it is already so difficult to get the public to understand sexual assault, how do we more forward? How can we expect our young men to treat women with dignity and respect if they see a man in one of the most powerful positions in the world do the opposite? That same man promised in a national debate to appoint Supreme Court Justices that will overturn Roe v. Wade. By overturning Roe v. Wade, he infringes on my rights as a woman. He stops me from making healthy, safe decisions about my own body. Perhaps the thing I fear the most is explaining to my beautiful, strong, independent young nieces, goddaughters and cousins that our country elected this man. They will grow up in these next four years with him as the president. They will be the ones most affected by this election. What can I do to make sure they don’t suffer for the older generation’s mistakes?
As a Mexican-American descendent of immigrants, I fear for the lives of all minorities. The man elected to lead our country promised to see to the destruction of families by mass deportation. He used words of bigotry and hate to divide our nation across lines of race, gender and religion. He gave hope of a “white-owned” America to the housands of people who believe their race is superior to all others. Are you ready to go back in history to a time when minorities feared for their lives on a daily basis? Because that is what I am afraid we are going towards. When you elect a man endorsed by “the most infamous – and oldest – of American hate groups,” you give power to those people. You allow them to believe their agenda will now be put forth with approval from the president. At the same time, you leave the minorities of this country, a vast group, out on the side of the road. How long will I have to fear leaving my home?
As a Catholic, I fear for the freedom of all religions. My religious upbringing taught me to respect all religions, not construct divides among us. Our newly elected president vows to do the opposite. He wants to ban certain religions, an act the founders of our country certainly did not seek when they came here. Our country prides itself on religious freedom, but can we say that now when our country has elected this man? Can I raise my children and guide my godchildren to love, appreciate and respect all religions when they will be subject to the discrimination this president shows? The blatant islamophobia he demonstrates is not what I believe in. I do not fear a religion. I do not judge people for the actions of other members of their religion. I do not give in to the trepidation that men like our president-elect feed off of to fuel their agenda. And I will not give in even in these next turbulent four years. I will not give him the satisfaction. But it will be hard when the freedom I have now is put to the test.
As a millennial, I fear for the future of our nation. When our country elected that man, we set the path for a destructive nation. Unfortunately, the decision for my future was made by a generation not my own. While the majority of those 18-44 years of age voted for the most qualified presidential candidate in American history, those 45 and older voted for the other candidate. That generation dictated my future. They have left us with a “businessman” who has bankrupted four companies. He has put people out of work more times than you can count. So why did America trust him with our economy? Why did America give him the power to lead our great country? The law and policies he will put in place will affect my generation the most. He vows to get rid of Obamacare, the only thing saving me from being without healthcare. He is determined to overturn marriage equality, a basic human right for all people. My generation has led the fight for some of these basic rights, now what? We will have to suffer for his actions. We will be the ones fighting his wars. We will be the ones accused of letting this happen. We will be the ones having to clean up his mess. What will our nation look like when this is all over?
And finally, as an American, I fear for the world. Our president-elect led our country to believe we were insignificant. He made people feel like our country wasn’t still a great world power. That’s not true. Our country is still great and our country is still the place people around the world look to as an example. And we’ve let them down. Our country elected a man who doesn’t believe in climate change. He doesn’t take scientific proven facts as truth. Our world is in a rapidly changing environment, and he won’t even have us start preparing. How can we work globally together to stop these changes if he refuses to acknowledge the truth? He has also offended many world leaders, so where does that leave us with them? Will we still be able to call our allies, allies? And he has also given extremist groups validity for their cause. His words of hate and prejudice buy into their belief that we are against them. Will his presidency give them reason to act? Will he lead us into World War III?
I can only hope now, for the sake of our country and our people that these next four years go by without the implementation of the many promises he made to his supporters. Those promises of imprisoning his opponent, building a wall and banning religions will only lead us in the wrong direction. Our country is better than that. Our country is better than him.