I am scared. Legitimately scared. On November 9, 2016, I woke up to realize that Donald Trump has been elected to be the next President of the United States. I went into my classes unable to focus, constantly thinking about the reality that many have had difficulty to fathom. The gravity of the situation has been denied and ignored by many, but many more see it through a different perspective. In light of Trump’s election, hundreds if not thousands of people have already been harassed, assaulted, and humiliated here only a day after his election. Donald Trump has brought out the worst in America through its angered citizens ready for political change. He has empowered those who think they have the right to oppress others in their own world reality. This is not about who will lead the free world anymore. This is about how one man can unite a mob into taking away the civil rights of American citizens.
It is arguable that Trump’s rise to power mimics the way dictators rose to power as shown here. Although the chances of having all of the circumstances line up to turn Trump into a dictator are very slim, the resemblance is uncanny. The problem stems from his hateful speech to “Make America Great Again” and how that affects everyone in the country. As mentioned before, many idolize his hate-mongering speech while others incessantly fear it. Using the stress, anger, and frustrated emotions of the American people for his own personal gain is outright cowardly and malevolent. It incites injustice and oppression, and it is not a valid excuse for the rhetoric of a president.
If you think Donald Trump will fix the economy, you might be right. However, if you look at Trump’s tax plan, many economists speculate that he will bring the U.S. into another recession. Let me state a working definition of Donald Trump: a president-elect who has no fundamental understanding of how to run a national economy let alone a few businesses. This is a person who boasts about his successful business ventures and has very little to show for it. However, the image of the man as a capitalist god is stamped all over the minds of millions of people, and he has used this to his own advantage. He has created a brand of himself that is based on a lie, and he has given the American people a false sense of hope for their financial future.
Donald Trump is a significant threat to world peace. All jokes aside, talking about the ease of using nuclear weapons against another country is no laughing matter. A president who has not given a second thought about the lives of millions of innocent people and how serious one nuclear missile can be to the world is detrimental. Going back to an age where using constant threats to use “nukes” is reverting back to a day when people feared for a legitimate chance of nuclear fallout. When people knew the physical and political harm it could do. He is playing games with the world, and he has not thought about the consequences.
Men, women, and children are afraid to walk in the streets because of Trump. He has called for the “complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Using the terminology for extreme Islam terrorist groups does not help when the very same people who use these words do not differentiate Muslims anyway. I understand the need to feel security from ISIS, and I understand why you would want to protect your family first, but there are people who need your help, and you look the other way at the sound of their cries. The implications that underlie from preventing Muslim immigration and tagging every Muslim-American suggest that every Muslim is a threat to the United States. On the contrary, these are human beings who live day to day the same as you and me. Subjecting an entire group of people to harsh treatment based on their religion is the very definition of oppression and, in fact, unconstitutional. Arguing that they are not “God’s people” is incredibly hypocritical and unacceptable. Understanding the complexities of the situation is hard enough, but fundamentally understanding the complexity of every human being is even worse. Reducing a group of people into one ideology and labeling them evil while you yourself is good is as easy as calling heads or tails at the flip of a coin. All I am saying is as challenging as it may be to love your neighbor, think of yourself in any situation other than your own.
In a culture so ingrained with the sexualization of women, it is apparent to see why Donald Trump talks about women the way he does. Assuming he has not sexually assaulted anyone, he has defamed women like no one else. Women who have been forced to respect Trump only to be shamed by him later on. In his beauty pageants, in his reality TV shows, in his speeches, it is evident that he does not respect women. In a country that has continuously worked towards the equal rights of women, having Trump as president would only revert America back to a mentality where women do not deserve the same respect as a man.
Donald Trump has inspired groups of people to harass and mistreat people of different ethnicities. America has its racist tendencies, but this trumps them all. As in a collective shout to all minorities in the U.S., we are not welcome here. Again, reverting back to a time when America was “destined for the whites.” The America I know and love has embraced a kind of diversity that has never been seen before. A historical experiment if you will. With all of the rhetoric Trump has used towards minorities, it is clear that he does not appreciate the same diversity as I do. Instead, he has pitted groups of people against each other and blamed his outgroups for all of his problems. It becomes easy to see why people have protested against a Trump presidency. It is not due to tantrums. It is due to the realization of the continuation of a system that has time and time again failed to support the basic civil rights of its people. Slurs have been called out. Threats have been named. Listen to your brothers and sisters. Entitlement and privilege has blinded you from their woes and troubles. Defending America as a construct you have built for yourself becomes easy at the sight of someone burning the American flag. Do not mistake it for an act of violence. It is a plea that we might have a sense of what it is like to not be judged for the color of our skin.
In my personal experience, I have had people tell me I’m not from a city where I grew up. I have heard people tell me to go back to China. I have had people tell me that I should be deported because I am an immigrant. I could go on. I choose not to speak not because it is impolite, not because it makes me a better person, but because in doing so, I hoped to understand more of why I have become a lesser version of a human being to them. In understanding, I have hoped to learn the root of this evil and how I may be able to protect those that I love. These acts are unspeakable, and I have hoped to never see this kind of behavior upon my friends and family. Plus, I guess I don’t like it when I’m reduced into an object and classified as inferior among equals. This man will only see my respect as soon as he starts respecting everyone else. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
The list goes on and on from his treatment of the LGBTQIA+ community to his personal transgressions in business to more of his bullying tactics to his morality. Looking back at everything, it seems we are in dire need of a revolution for our own culture to change to prevent anything like this to happen again. The uncertainty that this has placed over millions of Americans is disheartening, and it has left them fearful for their lives from their own neighbors. Let us not forget what America stands for. Remember the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that we were all promised. It is not the time to grieve but to keep working towards a better tomorrow. It is our common goal. Learn to love your brothers and sisters regardless of their words and actions. God knows we could all use a bit of pacifism in our lives.
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