After 18 long months of traveling down the political road to one of the most brutal and controversial U.S. Presidential Elections, America has spoken and elected Mr. Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States.
I think it's safe to say that most of us reacted similarly when we all woke the morning of November 9th, 2016. We all were hit with disbelief, shock and, for a lot of us, disappointment. But let's be honest: I think no matter the outcome, we all would be disappointed.
Like a lot of millennials, I did not vote. I felt as though I was not educated well enough on the political issues at hand, and more importantly, the candidates who were in the running made it hard to cast a vote I felt was appropriate and one I would be satisfied with. All that I was aware of was a horrid media portrayal of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Trump is summarized as a "bigot and misogynistic racist who will take away the rights of American minorities," and Hillary is a so-called blood-sucking liar with a hidden agenda accused of possible treason. That was a majority of what I heard and saw on television and social media. THAT, my friends, is probably what influenced a huge portion of the American voters. Between the campaign ads and social media fights, I heard very little of what both candidates would actually do to resolve the issues this country faces and how we can achieve social and economic progress. Even during the debates I only heard of childish arguing and vague promises of "making America Great again" only to be left in the dark wondering how exactly that was going to happen. Needless to say, we had very sub-par candidates.
The day after the election when Trump was announced as the victor, it all felt like Armageddon. Everyone was suddenly at each other's throats. Social media fights broke out like the plague. People were actually disregarding their own friendships with others with opposing views and opinions. Individuals of minority groups (i.e. African-Americans, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community and women) were all beginning to fear for their lives. The liberals were accusing the conservatives of being racists and sexists. Hell, the Canadian immigration site crashed multiple times that day! Worst of all, Hillary supporters were protesting by burning the American flag, something that is supposed to symbolize our great nation. It's shameful. I'm all for our First Amendment, but protesting under the presumption that there's a problem when it hasn't even occurred is a waste of energy.
I have one thing to say: it is what it is. I understand the outrage given the degrading words and actions of Mr. Trump. I'm not denying any of it happened or was said. Even though I am a woman and Trump had made misogynistic remarks, I still believe in keeping an open mind. I strongly believe that is the best course of action to take in order for this country to unify. We can't even disregard him at this point with #HesNotMyPresident when he hasn't even been inaugurated! We can't make assumptions. We can't presume he will repeal gay rights or force immigrants out. We cannot live in fear, because that fear is developing into what we feared Trump would do: we are dividing, but that is something we can only blame ourselves for right now. This country needs to patiently wait and see what course of action this man actually takes. Despite the negatives, we must focus on the positives that he does want this country to unify because let's face it, we have never been more divided. We need to stop, wipe our tears and march on. We need to stand as the nation that our forefathers intended us to be.
I'm not saying you have to like Trump. I'm not asking you to switch over to the Republican party and support the principles it stands for (I prefer to remain neutral). Educate yourselves. Don't let the media influence you and be the underlying source of how your views were shaped. Don't confuse opinions with facts. Don't attack others with opposing views. We are all entitled to one, but don't assume your counterparts are wrong. I think it's fair to be cautious given past occurrences in the last year, but you're only creating problems by believing they exist when they aren't currently present.
We are one nation, under God. If this country believes that one man can actually ruin all of us, then we simply do not understand the meaning of that phrase. We need to spread the love. We need to keep the peace.
