My family came to the United States in 2006. I’ve been in this country, in this city for tenyears and have been a citizen of this nation for less than a year now. Since we came here, there have been three presidential elections, and this is the first election I was able to participate in. The naturalization process requires one to know the political history of this country, and from fourth grade, I was taught the importance of voting. It wasn’t until I reached high school, however, that I realized what a privilege it was to vote. Men and women of color, as well as white women, marched and fought for their rights to vote in this country. People died for the sake of selecting the name of the people they wanted to lead them. For this reason, as soon as I was given the chance to register to vote, I jumped at it. I found my voting location for the primaries and was desperate to find a means to get there before the polls closed. I had to chance to use my voice, and I grabbed it with both hands; I wanted my voice to be heard, small as it was. Which is why I was very confused by the final polls in this election. This year’s election was crucial, especially for African Americans, Latins, Asians, Muslims, and those in the LGBTQ+ community, just to name a few. It was almost a matter of life and death. Everyone was being urged to go out and vote to protect what they believed in, but the results were quite shocking and very disappointing. Almost 50% of eligible voters didn’t go to the polls to vote, but worse than that, thousands of people took this election as a joke. Harambe, a gorilla that died earlier this year, received over 11,000 votes. Some people wrote in Hennessey as a candidate, and Deez Nutz, a fictional candidate, received more votes than Jill Stein. I can’t express the shock I felt when I heard about this. I was livid! This election was a deciding factor in how minorities would live day by day. The morning after the election, the first thing I checked were the results and when I saw that Trump won, I didn’t know how to feel. I was angry, confused, afraid, but mostly I was shocked. I was shocked that this man whole said all kinds of negative things about minorities, who disrespected women, who equated a whole religion to terrorism became president, simply because people didn’t like his opponent. They would have preferred a wild gorilla, may I remind you, is dead. This election was very important to me because as an African American female in America, there are many odds stacked against me, be it in the job force or just everyday life. Many friends and family of mine have already faced prejudice because of the color of their skin, or because they wear a hijab. I wasn’t shocked that Trump has own because of Trump himself, but I was afraid because people would feel more free to express their hatred for people of color, and act on those feelings. Less than 24 hours after Trump was announced president elect, there were several incidences of racism and sexism that took place throughout the country.

And this last one happened right here, on our University of Houston campus.

If all this happened within a day of Trump’s election, I fear what would happen in the future.

Other countries now look at America as a joke, and I don’t think Americans themselves realize. I just hope people sober up before things get worse.