Dear Mr. Trump,

I’m going to try to contain my anger, but there’s a lot of it so there’s no guarantee that this letter will sound civilized and collected like I want it to be. For months, I’ve been wrestling with how I wanted to present this letter to you, and I just kept putting it off. But the ugly truth is this: at the end of this week, you will be sworn in as President of the United States. Since this news first broke out back in November, I’ve gone through a hurricane of emotions and as a young American getting involved with politics for the first time, I want you to know a few things.

I don’t respect you and don’t think I ever will. I’ll admit, I’ve always had a natural distaste for the rich and privileged, but seeing how you can bring out the worst in people has made me question everything. The hatred and misogyny and racism that you’ve spilled has sparked a hideous fire of hostility amongst the country. Those things have always been there, but because a public figure like yourself blurts them out without a care, it makes it seem like it’s okay. But here’s the thing: it’s not.

It’s not okay to mock those with disabilities. It’s not okay to pit people against each other based on the melanin in their skin. It’s not okay to objectify a gender for the sake of your pleasure. It’s not okay to isolate a race and say that their infiltration is what going to ruin this country because guess what? They’re not going to ruin the country, it’s people like you and those who have this ideology that will. I don’t personally know you. I don’t know if you say these things to get people riled up and talking, to boost your image, or because you really feel that way. But those words sting and I don’t think you understand that.

My family has had a rough journey. They came to this country with very little money knowing very little English. They worked day and night to provide future generations like myself with the opportunity to grow and to flourish. Whenever things get hard, I think about my dad along with the rest of my family, and how they sometimes had nothing to eat. Whatever problems I’m having suddenly seem very small. And I work hard for them, because I don’t want all the risks and sacrifices my family made to go to waste. They deserve growth and flourishing. So when you insult my roots by calling us rapists and drug dealers, I am beyond insulted. Since when was this country’s job to make it’s people feel unloved and unwanted?

I’m very new to the world. I’m in that stage where I’m thinking about others around me and their happiness, rather than being self absorbed in my own little world. Yes, I’m young and I may not know a lot, but I know that you should treat people with decency and kindness as much as you can. So yeah, I may be naive to the evils and corruptions of the world, but The American Dream is still alive and well. I wish we could live in an America where people aren’t discriminated by race, gender, religion, sexual orientation. I wish we could live in an America where people would focus on similarities and building each other up, rather than differences and destruction. I wish we could live in an America where criminals serve time for their deeds, and not get off the hook for rape after 3 months in prison. I wish we could live in an America where women don’t have to feel objectified just for having different genitalia. I wish we could live in an America that future generations will get to see if we don’t total the environment. I wish… well, you get the point.

These wishes have never been the case. And Mr. Trump, I’m not quite sure what America you continuously refer to in your slogan, but I’d like to I’d like to meet some sort of positive change, because we are in shambles. All of those things I listed above, that’s America to me, so please don’t ruin my vision.

Sincerely,