Recently among the celebrations of Trump supporters, I've heard multiple comments that people are overreacting about the need for safe spaces and they need to stop being overemotional, since our government's system of checks and balances will prevent Trump from doing anything extreme or forcing anyone out of the country. On the other side, I've heard just as many comments about Trump voters and Republicans being racists and small-minded people pushing back progress. While I don't approve of the recent violent attacks on Trump supporters, I do think they need to be more aware of why people are so angry.
While I don't believe all Republicans are racist, the recent amount of insensitive comments that make it very easy for anyone to believe so. Most of the people who are "emotional" and afraid for real reasons not because they're sore that a Republican canididate won. The fact that you can't understand why so many people are afraid just means you've been lucky and privilaged enough that you haven't had to deal with the lack of acceptance and violence against minority groups that's been occuring. We still live in an time where mothers are afraid that police officers might hurt their sons because of the color of their skin and Muslims constantly have to be defensive and careful because of the actions of extremists. It's very easy to ignore this kind of hate especially when it's currently being masked in a way that makes it seem as if it's only logical. "I have to be careful around African-Americans, especially in Chicago, they're much more likely to be armed and dangerous" or "We need to be wary of all Muslims, they belong to the same religion as the terrorists that have been attacking our country". This type of justified racism is exactly why people of minority groups are soo afraid. They constantly experience and witness others of their same identity being persecuted the same way and are justifiably frightened about when it might happen to someone they care about.
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Aside from the larger incidents, there's just the daily occurences of random people on the street feeling the need to "share their opinions" and spew remarks like "This is America, speak English!" to someone just speaking in their native tongue. And no, I'm not limiting their free speech. Free speech isn't about giving people the right to disrespect or devalue another person's worth. People also have the right to not feel threatened because of their identity.
Electing a President that's become known for this same kind of "justified" racism as well as unmasked insults, is sending the wrong type of message about us as a country. We are forcing people to follow a leader that they believe doesn't respect them. We are making a statement that we are willing to respect an individual who doesn't reciprocate and show the same amount of respect. So yes, people are feeling unsafe and rejected. The leader of their country doesn't care and even contributes to the culture of non-acceptance that's negatively impacting their lives each day. As kids in school, we were taught that respect, responsibillity, honesty and all the pillars of character were the most important qualities of a good leader not just who gets the highest grades. It seems that as adults we've forgotten to hold the leader of our entire nation to the same standard, and what we as a society should fear is whether we've accepted that corrupt political leaders as the norm too easily and are settling for someone who can simply "do the job".
