I am not proud to be American right now.
And no, this has nothing to do with Trump. So, before you undermine me as a disrespectful human being and tell me to leave the country, hear me out.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up at 8 a.m. and reached for my phone while my eyes still weren’t even fully open and anxiously pulled up Twitter. There it was blasted all over my timeline that Donald Trump had won the election. As I continued to scroll, I saw tweets from celebrities, my friends, people in my college classes, people I graduated high school with and family members giving the world their two cents. There was gloating, fear, plenty of “I told you so” and of course, anger. Videos of Hillary supporters crying and videos of Trump supporters celebrating like they had just won the super bowl crowded my Facebook Feed. Along with the regular reaction posts, I saw things that I am disgusted and ashamed by. And no, I’m not ashamed that my country elected Donald Trump. I’m ashamed of the citizens of this country that can’t seem to understand Democracy and freedom.

What I’m seeing happening right now is not Democracy. People arguing, losing friends, discriminating against entire political parties; that is not what I want from my country. I have seen nothing but hate since this election started, and it physically makes me sick to my stomach. Respect that people have different opinions, that’s what makes this country great. Let people have their online meltdowns, let people feel sad, and let people feel happy. But if your version of feeling emotion is putting down an entire group of people who have differing opinions from you, then you are the problem in this country, and maybe YOU should leave.

You are the reason for the obvious and blatant separation we have between Republicans and democrats, blacks and whites, blue and white-collar workers, rich and poor, and every other degree of separation we have within our borders. If you can honestly believe that all people in one political party are the same way, then you are truly the most ignorant kind of person there is. Let people have their opinions and if you know yours is legitimately discriminating against a group of people, then keep it to yourself. Let the citizens of our country mourn the loss of their preferred candidate, and let the other citizens celebrate their new President-elect.

Our country is split into two right now (not counting the 46% who didn’t even vote, or the 11,000 that voted for Harambe). There is hate coming from everyone. Democrats and republicans have been sending hate since Tuesday night, so don’t you dare try and say that it is coming from the entirety of one political party, race, or generation. But, on the contrary, there is also tolerance, acceptance and a whole lot of “chill” coming from both political parties. There are a lot of protests coming from Democrats and hate crimes coming from Republicans, but these acts don’t represent them as a whole. There are also a lot of people from both parties, who woke up on Wednesday, saw the results and were completely ok with it.

So, next time you see someone being hateful or disrespectful, don’t blame it on their political affiliation. Blame them, and only them. Don’t blame the millions of other people who have similar opinions.

I am not mad at Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or the Electoral College. I’m not angry about the next four years. I am angry with all of the citizens of this country who can sit back and dehumanize other people because of their opinions, race, religion, or political views. This country is made up of it’s people, and considering the actions I’ve been seeing from a lot of them, I am not proud to be an American and I am not proud to call them my fellow Americans.

Sincerely,

An American who just wrote over 600 words about the recent election and actually didn’t reveal her political party (amazing, right?)