Saying that election night was a long one would be an understatement. From a projected Clinton lead in the morning to the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the early hours of the next day, the entire night was filled with arguments and lines and complaints and people watching the election results like their lives depended on it. And actually, it does. Trump is without a doubt the worst possible choice to run anything other than a failed casino chain. He is the literal embodiment of everything wrong with this country, and the popular vote proved this – Hillary Clinton won the people, but Trump won the more important electors. With that in mind, I do not want to write yet another news article going on about the evils of Trump's campaign. We know they're there, we know what him and his homophobic sadistic running mate believe. I've written about the divide this election created, but now we have to look at what is to come. Considering that Trump can't do even a fraction of what he says he will, it's not as terrible an outcome as say, Trump declaring emergency powers and orchestrating a war. But still – we must ask ourselves the question: “so now what?”
Unification will be almost impossible. No matter what Trump, Clinton, or President Obama says, after the last year or two of build-up, we're in two camps, both always at each others' throat. And with a man who says that Mexicans, immigrants, and Muslims are all evil and have no place in our nation, unification will simply be a dream. Do you realize what you've done, American electors? You've officially allowed the systematic destruction of human rights and liberties that the Founding Fathers fought and even died for. In fact, Alexander Hamilton was an illegal immigrant, and nobody cares because he's white and all that sort of thing. The LGBTQ community is set to be openly persecuted by Pence, who supported conversion therapy. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is essentially torture inflicted on a gay person in order to force them to “convert” to heterosexuality. This is, of course, illegal in most countries, and had Clinton have won, it would also be illegal here. How can we come back together when innocent people, born and raised in the United States, will be treated like dirt because they are of Hispanic descent? What about the immigrants trying to survive in a new country, only to have armed men come in and threaten to kill them if they do not comply? Or the minorities who will be systematically beaten and searched in the streets on the sole thought of “they look like a criminal?” Women will loose their reproductive rights, and Planned Parenthood, a company that does not administer abortions and simply directs people to where those can be done, will be defunded, causing women to be unable to get even basic medical treatment. Political opposition will be almost extinct – not because of the Republican-controlled Congress, but because Trump has vowed to imprison his enemies. This is the country we are about to live in. We cannot unify if we allow this sort of thing to happen, and judging by the support that Trump/Pence have, anyone who opposes will be told to “leave.” Because opinions and facts are only valid if they fit the hateful narrative that Trump has created.
We have to look at what the next four years can hold. We are Americans, after all. As a country founded by the people and for the people, we have the ability to petition the government, speak freely of change and against our leaders, and protest the decisions made, even if the conservative sects refuse to admit that. Whatever Trump does for the country, we can change and keep our people protected. He very well could cause government-sanctioned racism and sexism, hate crimes and violence. Granted, this has already happened. Muslim people are afraid to go into public because we allowed a hateful man to rise to the highest office in the land. And don't you dare say they deserve that – if you actually read the Bible and not just the parts you felt were relevant, you would see that Christianity can be just as violent and evil as radical Islam (keyword: radical). But as a people, we can protect our Muslim brothers and sisters. We can make sure women can make it into a clinic without being called a murderer or other names I dare not repeat. We can escort our African-American and Latino friends to their destinations. I can't believe I have to write that. We shouldn't have to do this. We should not have American people living in total fear of fellow Americans who would harm them because of who they are. Muslim women should not be afraid to wear their hijabs. Young black men should not have to stay far enough away from their groups to prevent looking like a gang. Women should not be berated because of whatever has happened to them. As soon as this becomes a daily or even weekly occurrence, we will no longer be the land of the free. We'll only be free if you're a white, straight, rich man. Wait a minute...isn't that something to think about?
America cannot be made great again. It never was great to begin with. George Washington's original ideals have been corrupted, political parties run the nation. The electoral system has made the popular vote worthless – if we went by the vote of the people, Bernie Sanders would be president right now. It is a broken system that Trump cannot fix, because he would not be able to exploit it again. But to say “make America great again” implies that we were once a strong nation in “the good old days.” The days of rampant racism and segregation, where people were killed because of their skin color. The days where women were forced silent and even lobotomizedbecause they wanted to move beyond the kitchen. Do you want America to step back fifty years ago like this is Back to the Future? We moved on, we progressed. Liberalism is not evil, because if it was not for liberal Democrats after World War II, we would still have a Jim Crow south. And yes, the Democratic party did support slavery and the Ku Klux Klan. But at that time, Democrats were located in the South primarily, while Republicans were a new idea in the North. Things change, party ideals move on. When the World Wars began happening, the switch began to take hold, coming to a total reversal with Franklin Roosevelt and the post-war days. And in the 1950s, when Republican Joseph McCarthy began his witch-hunt to find any communist sympathizers in the country...well, doesn't that sound familiar? Maybe a bit like a certain person we just elected into office? Oh, how history has a way of repeating itself.
We've made a mistake, America. We've let hate, lies, and violence take command and control. And I know that I did not refer to Trump as “president.” He's not president yet, and he won't be until the inauguration in January. Until then, we still have President Barack Obama, who is one of the greatest people to ever lead the free world. Right now, the only thing we can do is make it through the next four years and try to keep it together. I know how hard it will be, considering the rhetoric that Trump has used to get where he is, but if we are truly the United States of America, we can use the rights that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay helped create. We can be the change in this country, even if half of the nation wanted a racist, lying, bankrupt businessman who will be on two separate trials within the next few weeks as President over somebody who was more qualified than anyone else in the last twenty years. I'm just as upset over these events as anyone else, but we must live the way we always have had. Even if our commander-in-chief will not want us to – we all are free. Muslims, immigrants, political opponents, African-Americans, women, Hispanics, white. We all are American citizens, and we can make sure that our next President does not make his evil beliefs the norm in what was once a safe, loving country.
Government-sponsored hate is the worst case scenario. But despite this, despite all of it, we have to hope. We have to break through that sharp divide and at the very least, attempt to try and work together to get ourselves out of this pit. Trump will be in office, there is no way around it. Instead of his supporters trying to belittle the opponents, listen to each other. Instead of fighting each other and yelling and making comments on Facebook articles, we have to really think – will we just let Trump and Pence run the country however they want? Will we allow a bleak future where only the white man survives, or will we take a stand and not be afraid to say “no?” As a nation founded on freedom and the ability of the people to make decisions for the nation, we must consider that electing Trump could very well be a massive mistake that will cost money and even lives. But for all we know, he was playing a character, using his overly-aggressive persona to gather votes. Unlikely, but I wouldn't put it past him – though let's be real: we never thought he'd make it this far in a million years. As of now, if we don't come together as a people and be able to make choices and prevent overreaches, making sure that everybody is treated no differently than they were under the Obama Administration, then we could trump hate and move on in 2020.
Until then, I'd like to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory, because even if he's not the best person to take the office, he still made it this far – and it's only right to do so. I understand the fear as much as I can. I know what he's said and I do not agree with a single word. He very well could be the worst president we've seen in almost two hundred years (here's looking at you, Andrew Jackson). But we must also hope that our ability as American citizens can overpower the hate, the racism, the misogyny, the downright lies that have been brought to the forefront by Trump. There will be hate crimes – they've already started, with Muslims being attacked and verbally assaulted in public. But that is not from Trump himself, but his supporters who have been blinded by hate. Like I said, maybe this was all some elaborate ruse to get votes. His victory speech was not one of anger or gloating, but one of hope and a willingness to listen and work with the American people. After the speech, Stephen Colbert called for us all to find some common ground, and Trevor Noah warned us not to fear and suggested the idea of giving Trump a “clean slate” after the campaign. And the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt still hold true: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
This is America, and if you don't like the outcome, get involved. Work with your local politicians. Write letters and emails to your senators, to your representatives. Be involved in the world around you. You can be upset, you can be angry, you can even be afraid. Just know that this country does not allow for dictators to control the people. Know that we are all one nation, indivisible. We can protest, we can speak out, and above all, we can decide on what path the United States of America will take. This is just a roadblock on the way to making America great. Not great again, but genuinely great for the first time since George Washington's farewell address. Do not let your fear prevent you from becoming a leader in whatever capacity you can. As much as it pains me to say it, Donald J. Trump is our next president. The only way to keep this country from falling into violent rhetoric and hatred is to carry on into the future, moving forward, motivated by hope and a love for what this country really stands for – freedom, liberty, and the people's power within our government.
