No, this is not me coming to tell you about how much I hate Trump, or how much I hate people who voted for Trump. I don't like to "hate" anyone and, if anything, I hate the culture that surrounds his party and his campaign. I would like to think Donald Trump ran on the platform he did in order to win votes. I would not like to think that he ran a campaign out of true hatred and fear-mongering that is all plaguing us right now. I would like to think that my friends and my family still care about me and don't agree with the hateful and negative rhetoric propagated by the culture of bigoted extremist Republicans. I try to remind myself that not everyone has the same political views that I do and that the morality of their candidate is not them. However, the morality has been embodied in the actions of Trump supporters and conservatives/Republicans in general. Not all of them, but enough, too many actually. It IS scary.
People have feelings.
This is a letter to all of my friends and family members who currently support the notion that people are to just, "get over," this election. I'm sorry, but no, I will not be told to "get over" my legitimate fear that has been propagated by the right side of the election. Throughout this election, it has been ensured that people of color, LGBTQ individuals, disabled people, women, non-Christians, veterans, poor people, and people of many other demographics will NOT be OK. After a year of being shown that this candidate does not think my life matters and that his party and his campaign do not support my life and the people I support, I am tired. I am tired of being told that my voice and my opinion does not matter, and having my feelings invalidated. I am tired of people acting like the feelings of people are subjective, open to interpretation, and open to argument. I am tired of the attitude that I am selfish, dumb, lazy, oversensitive, fragile, overly offended, and weak. I am tired of being the "entitled" millennial to Generation X and Baby Boomers. I am tired of being told that society is so great and that I have to stop caring about other people or that my fears are not real, that I am overreacting to the circumstances. I am tired of privileged people telling me how to feel and telling underprivileged or unprivileged people how to act, or how things should be. This election is not a time to deny privilege and continue acting like those who don't have privilege are self-entitled brats or that they are too demanding. Just because we all got trophies does not mean we are crybabies because our ideal candidate didn't win. We are not a generation to mock and ridicule. We have so many opportunities but we lack a lot of the means to take those opportunities and then we are called lazy. Asking for lower tuition and a higher wage isn't lazy people wanting to stay lazy. It's working people and people who want to pursue an education asking for a bit of slack and support so they can get to their success with more ease and less frustration -- so then we don't have to be called lazy and demanding.
Guess what? I'm not oversensitive. Is it really an overreaction to feel insecure about the safety of myself and the people I love? Is it really an overreaction when people are reacting to this election with hate and violence in the name of Donald Trump and Republicans, even in the name of the United States? (I get it, Hillary supporters and Trump protesters are being violent and rioting too. That's not what we're talking about here. That is not about American people actively hating and hurting one another.) Is it really that easy to "get over" something that has been threatening myself and other marginalized groups for at least the past year, and now it is evident that those threats were very valid? No, I still don't think all Republicans and all Trump supporters are violent and hateful. However, when people are committing hate crimes in the name of Trump, in the name of Republicans, in the name of conservative politics, and in the name of the USA, that's when it is a threat. It is so daunting to think that I live in a country where people will do things out of such great hatred for people they don't know or don't understand and expect me to think nothing of it. Trump is not telling people to hurt people. His rhetoric suggested it and now that rhetoric is coming alive. Extremist conservative culture has been really revolutionary throughout this election. It has become very scary.
Again, people have feelings. We have every right to fear the reality that is coming out of this election.
Until we are done hurting our American brothers and sisters over hateful rhetorical propaganda, I will not rest. I will not sit quiet and I will not "get over it." I will not be told to "get over it." I will not be told to not fear what has always been my worst nightmare, to not be able to live up to and fulfill the American Dream. As a proud member of the LGBTQ community here in the United States, I will not be silent about our corrupt society. The societal change we need isn't going to come from just a presidency, or a campaign, or even the impeachment of a president.
Today we grieve. Tomorrow we fight, and the day after that, and the day after that as well. Love trumps hate. Hillary Clinton's campaign slogan is "Stronger Together." We are strong together. We do not have to let the corrupt and unpatriotic culture that has come out of a presidential campaign run our country. We don't have to let the culture of extremism overtake us. Purification and supremacy are not the America we need. WE can be stronger together, and better together. We need each other more than anything right now. If we continue to default to the side of violence and keep hurting each other in the name of Trump, in the name of hate, in the name of justice, in the name of corruption, or out of anger, we will not get anywhere. We are stronger together and we should be using that strength to fight the bad in this country. We need to use that strength for the greater good of the United States, and for the future of our country, and the future of our fellow Americans.
We need you. We need us.
I'm with you. I'm with us.
Stand with me. Stand with us.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
"When they go low, we go high." - Michelle Obama
Love. Trumps. Hate.
