Throughout most of the election season, I had kept quiet about my political stance and preferred candidates. In fact, I had been unsure of my position - and my vote - until the night before the election. I feared a Clinton presidency because I couldn't bring myself to trust her. I had done my research and I didn't like what I was seeing. Some of her policies seemed unconstitutional to me and there are also biblical reasons that I couldn't vote for her, and although I know many people disagree with me on that, it's still a belief I have and I hope people are able to respect that. I also feared a Trump presidency because so, so many people close to me would have to worry about what he had said he would do. I didn't want to vote third party because I did feel like that would be a wasted vote. And now, after seeing the numerous amounts of people who blamed third-party voters for Clinton's loss, I realize I was right.
In the end, I voted Trump. After arguing with myself, doing research, arguing with myself some more, I picked the candidate that I hated the least. Plenty of stuff in the Clinton's history scared me. And although plenty of stuff that Trump said has scared me, I can't prove that he's actually going to do, or even capable of, some of the things he's said he would do. I honestly believed that most of what he was saying was all for show: he was saying what most Americans wanted to hear. He had catered his campaign (which was run by a woman, by the way, who thus has become the first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign) to target the working class. He told them what they wanted to hear and it worked for him. He was the outsider who promised to bring changes to Washington, and that's exactly what the American people wanted: less politics.
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I understand why people are hurt and scared and upset at the results. I truly do. And I'm also willing to admit that I have less to worry about and that I do have some kind of privilege as a white female. And I do want to apologize to my friends who are scared, and possibly now mad at me for knowing how I voted. I'm sorry you feel victimized. I'm sorry you feel threatened. I'm sorry if you think you have to stop trusting me. If you feel the need, as many of you have stated in your social media statuses, to delete me, I guess go ahead. But those of you who do know me, I hope you realize that the way I chose to vote isn't because I'm the racist, sexist, homophobic bigot the media wants to portray me as. I also hope that you know me better than to even think that. I'm sorry you're hurting, but I am not sorry that I chose the candidate I believed would benefit our country the best, as did you.
I'm also not going to be angry about the protests and the riots. Although I do think some of the burning and the violence is taking it too far, I do applaud you for exercising your First Amendment rights to petition and protest. We have amendments for a reason. I also want to applaud those of you who have conceded the outcome of the election, even if you didn't do so happily. I'm right along with you guys praying that our country will indeed become great, even if we have differing opinions about what "great" is, I believe in God and am certain that He knows what is in store for our beloved country.
I'm not telling you to accept the results and move on because it would hypocritical of me, since I know I would be deeply saddened had the outcome been different. But I am asking that we, as American people, do band together for the sake of our nation. We still need to be a voice for those who feel as if they are voiceless. We still need to stand up for the injustices in everyday society. We can still be there to support each other regardless of who voted for whom. We need to pay closer attention to those we voted into state and local positions, because those will have a more drastic effect on our lives than the national, especially if Trump changes his mind on some of his policies as it already appears he is doing.
To quote the late, great Abraham Lincoln: "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand." So please, my fellow Americans, whatever position you take, whichever side you are on, let's come together as the UNITED States of America.
