On Election Day, November 8, 2016, I voted for Hillary Clinton and cheered for joy as I imagined our first female president take our Oval Office by storm. It has been a long, hard fight, but here we are, on the day where we will taste sweet victory. Our country has been fighting sexism, amongst other social injustices, since the early 1900s. November 8th was supposed to prove how far we have come and instill hope into the lives of every young woman on the planet. We are a country that takes pride in how other nations turn to us as a beacon of hope, but we chose hate instead of love.
I couldn’t sleep. I laid awake, cowering under my blankets, wishing that I would wake up from this nightmare. I thought of my best friend, a Muslim woman, and her family. I thought of my roommate, a gay woman of color. I thought of my nation and the fear that struck millions of Americans as we realized our worst nightmare that we deemed too horrible to even imagine came to be our reality. As the sun rose, the verisimilitude of America's choice sunk in and the earth felt eerie. The normal cheery chatter that usually drives me insane before I have a chance to get a cup of coffee had vanished. No one spoke. No one knew what to say. A fog fell on Bellingham that morning, and with it came distress, fear and silence.
After attending a lecture for an hour and half, doing nothing but sitting in disbelief, I made my way to my next class. What I found brought me to tears. A young woman sat in the middle of Red Square, blindfolded, half naked with a sign stating, "Rate me. Make your next President proud." A young man approached her and asked her if the sign said 'rape' or 'rate,' being told, "You tell me." As horrifying as it is, both options are viable with our president-elect’s misogynistic history. The crowd could feel the anger and hurt radiating off her body. Time became a construction I no longer cared about, and after what could have been a few minutes or a few hours, more and more outraged people sat with her. Eventually hundreds of students gathered and watched, some joining in with posters expressing their worries. After what I was later told was four hours of sitting in silence, people were ready to fight. People were ready to stand for what they believe is right. People were ready to stand for social justice and love.
Distress, fear and silence turned to outrage, strength and protest.
A woman holds paper behind a sign saying, "RATE ME. Make your next President Proud." The T in 'rate' is questionably a P, implying that President-elect Trump would be proud of her rape.
An estimated 80 Western Washington University students protested the results of the 2016 presidential election. Hundreds of more students watched the demonstration take place in the center of campus.
Western Washington University Police watched as students demonstrated in a sit in.
A young woman satirically called herself a "pussy" after President-elect Trump has called women this derogatory term a numerous amount of times.
A group of women practice their freedom of speech.
After the sit in, students rallied and marched to downtown Bellingham, WA.
Students chanted phrases like,"Not my president!" "Love Trumps Hate!" and "Pussy Grabs Back!"
As we marched, we grieved. Vocalizing our sorrow, disbelief, and anger allowed us to process the horrors that we no longer can ignore. Hate is rooted in our society. After President Obama was elected, we jumped at the chance to say that we lived in a post-racial society that had overcome hatred. We used his time in office to take a breather and think that maybe, just maybe, the majority of America didn’t hold the belief that some humans beings are better than others based completely on social constructions. This is why the election of Donald Trump pains us so. We thought that this deep-rooted hate was instilled only in the worst people, not the majority of America. It is terrifying that over 60 million people voted for a man that ran his campaign of "Making America Great Again" to focus on times when segregation was legal, women didn’t have the right to vote and members of the LGBTQIA community were considered to be mentally ill. We have a right to be fearful, but we cannot cower.
We need to peacefully protest these results. It is important to take these next few weeks and grieve for our nation. Take time to show your anger, fear and sadness; however, when President-elect Trump takes office on January 20, 2016, we need to stop chanting "Not my president." We have to come together with hope and respect in order to make this transition of power peaceful, because we all want our president to be successful in leading our country. As Hillary Clinton said in her concession speech, "We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
After Secretary Clinton conceded, President Obama reminded us to not give up on our dreams. "Sometimes you lose an argument, sometimes you lose an election," he said, with Vice President Biden standing by his side, "But the path this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag." We need to look to our great leaders like President Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden. They aren't going to stop fighting for progress because of our elections results and we shouldn’t either.
We need to remain hopeful for progress, but if President-elect Trump carries the same bigotry that he held during his campaign for presidency, fight back. Progress does not come passively; it comes actively. Western Washington University professor and historian Dr. Stewart has frequently spoken of people voting with their feet in American history. Voting with your feet is a tool to advance political freedom. What differentiates foot voting from ballot-box voting is individual choice as opposed to being lumped in with millions of people where your vote is just one of many. We can vote with our feet without physically going anywhere. There are countless things you can do to instill progress in our nation. Channel your fear and frustration into something productive. As Dr. Stewart suggested to me, make a list of what changes you wish to see in our country and then act upon them: protest, volunteer, donate, stay informed and get involved in organizations that feel the same way as you. To reiterate, get involved, and get involved actively, because progress does not come passively.
As an American, you have the right to peaceful protest. Protests have led to massive change in American laws and society. Demonstration is more than just swinging posters around. It isn't just to try and change things; it's about sending a message and standing against injustice. Our generation has yet to see a massive movement like the Civil Rights Movement or Women's Suffrage. Maybe it is time to organize and begin to create change and progress in our country through peaceful protest. Dr. Stewart joked on Election Day, "Millennials are the only generation that hasn’t gotten a real good whiff of tear gas, and I think it is about time to change that."
We need to vote with our feet and march for social justice and progress. However, keep in mind that we do not want to contribute to the hate that we are trying to fight by rioting. Dr. Stewart eloquently said, "Simply taking it to the streets without a plan and only out of frustration or pain can be a good way to express one's political passion, but it can be -- and is often -- counter-productive if it leads to property damage and confusion about what it really means." By rioting, we risk people focusing on our violence instead of our message. It is important that as we protest, we are organized and peaceful in order to spread our message and prove that love trumps hate.
Above all else, spread love. Already, stories filled with hate are surfacing. I refuse to give this violence any more publicity other than to send my condolences to victims and the families of victims of hatred and violence. As human beings, we need to love each other and provide peace for one another. As a white person, I urge my race to be hyper-vigilant and extremely aware of our white privilege. We have a greater responsibility for our actions now more than we have ever before. With a Trump presidency comes a deep rooted hate that our nation has recently masked after electing our first biracial president. The election of Donald Trump is a reminder of the bigotry that is at the root of our nation.
Unfortunately, the results of this election have ripped off the mask, and suddenly we are realizing people are more comfortable with being openly racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, misogynistic and more. We learned the hard way that some people are so comfortable with these wrong doings that they would even elect a man who represents all of these things. We have a responsibility to use our white privilege to combat this hate toward minority groups whenever we see it. Vocalize your outrage when you witness this. No intolerant comment or action is too small to be dismissed, and it is our privilege to fight injustices.
Spreading love is more than just fighting hate. As Americans and as human beings, we need to be one step ahead of hate in order to defeat it. Begin encouraging one another in all our endeavors in life. Spread love to everyone. We need to come together as a nation and show that regardless of how this election turned out, love trumps hate, and we are and always will be stronger together.
