I am a sixteen year old girl. I am white and live with a middle class family that is held up by two loving, married parents. My father is a veteran, my mother a preschool teacher. I live in a six bedroom house on two acres and have a black lab named after our hometown football team: Raven. I grew up in a nice neighborhood where kids can ride bikes without parents watching and play in front lawns without fear of danger.
I know privilege. I have seen privilege. My own life is privilege. As a privileged, white sixteen year old girl, I am scared. I am scared of the man growing stronger with the demise of minorities, with the aggression of the abusive, with the hate of our enemies. I am fearful of the power he holds and the promises he has made. As a sixteen year old girl, I cannot vote. I cannot put in my say to prevent a bully from taking the sacred office a president holds. So I write to you, those who can, and I beg you, to listen to my privileged voice.
I can recall watching celebrity apprentice with my family, laughing at the idiocrisy of the contestants and the lack of restraint Donald Trump showed while giving his opinion. I can remember when he called Rosie O'Donell a pig, and I can remember the dirty comments made on Celebrity Apprentice that went well over my head then. None of these things phased me, or really anyone else. It didn't matter then if we allowed a politically incorrect, bigoted man steal the spotlight and roast others under it. It hasn't mattered until now.
I've always enjoyed history, learning about our country, our mistakes, the way we have acted to make right of those mistakes. I loved listening to speeches, I loved the way they made me feel like I could actually do something, like I was in control. However, it wasn't until this election that my interest in politics really came about. I sat up one night, tuned to the channel of one of the first republican debates, watching as twelve candidates squirmed at uneasy questions and rolled their eyes every time Donald Trump interrupted. He was loud, unforgiving, honest, brutal. (And yes, its no coincidence those four characteristics can be used to described a dictator as well.) To some people, that was the moment they pledged their allegiance to him, and his promise to make America great again.
I've kept watching since that night. I've watched all of Donald's latest bigot-inspired campaign speeches. I've read the information gathered about Hillary's email scandal and her big money donors. But, most importantly, I've listened to both sides. The platform Trump stands on of fighting for the people, honesty, and bringing a corruption-free presidency, sounds true and noble on paper and T.V. screens. It appeals to the people that feel most fed up with the errors of our country, the ones needing to put the blame on something real. Whether that be Muslims or Mexicans or Hillary herself, the hate that Donald Trump has grown so well at preaching to passionate crowds, will achieve nothing for our country.
Many people will agree that this election will be choosing the lesser of two evils. Picking the one that will damage America the least in the four years we must grant them. This idea is what splits the country into Trump or Clinton.
I recognize, that as a privileged white female, most of my freedoms will be maintained even with Trump as our fearless leader, (Although, with his strong belief that Planned Parenthood is a vacation home for Satan himself, there are some doubts to that.) However, I recognize that minorities can not find comfort in the same idea. After months of racist slander and hateful comments by Trump himself that have gone unchallenged by a majority of our citizens, the least we can do as a country is keep the same man that makes many fellow Americans fear for their safety, out of the White House.
