I want Donald J. Trump to live in both the body and brain of a gay man for just one day. I want him to feel the fear of persecution by born-again Christians and the KKK, organizations that support his "presidency", if you can even call it that.
I want him to live as a woman for just one day. I want him to know what it feels like to walk down the street with your keys in between your fingers so you can fight back if you have to. I want him to experience the shame and disgust of being catcalled, of having a strange man grab at his ass or chest. Grab 'em by the pussy, right? That's what he said. That's what he promotes whenever he makes a comment such as "I bet it's a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees."
In fact, as well as being a grown woman, I want him to experience being an underage teenage girl. Let him sink into despair when he realizes that the leader of the US is no better than the 16-year-old boy snapping girls' bra straps and calling them whores.
I want him to look into his own eyes on the television screen and hear the words he's saying. More than that, I want him to feel it. I want him to feel the ache of knowing that the person in charge, the person who is supposed to know what's best for the country we're living in, actually knows nothing at all.
Mr. Trump, (no, I will not address you as President, because frankly, you've done nothing to deserve that title) have you thought of what is going through children's heads when they see a man up on a podium, threatening to build a wall between us and Mexico, because in this divided world, he feels it's necessary to mark the difference between us and them?
There is no "us�" and "them".
Mr. Trump, how would you like to experience a day as a person of color? African-American, Hispanic, Asian, you name it. Would you let racial slurs and violence roll off your back as jokes the way you expect POCs to do? Or would you stand up and say that it is wrong of people to treat you differently?
You know you would, because deep down, you must know that there's no difference from one human to another, except maybe the dignity and empathy you are sorely lacking.
Become a refugee. Watch the country you love disappear as bombs fall on the ones you hold dear, taking away everything that matters to you. Feel the panic when the leader of the free world rejects you as a terrorist even though his statements have no basis in fact. Live as a Muslim and wear a hijab. Watch eyes narrow as you pass them by on the street. Get angry when politicians such as yourself twist a beautiful religion into something awful with their venomous words. Get beaten up in a back alley because white people want to "take back [their] country"� in your name.
Take a long, hard look at the damage you've done. Look at the children, the immigrants (many of whom have been your wives, but it's all right as long as they're Slavic models and still technically white, right?). Never mind the fact that your own parents are immigrants. Look at the artists, the writers, the activists, and the dreamers who've come from other countries. They are the fabric that make up America. They have created our unique and blended culture.
You, Mr. Trump, are tearing us apart at the seams. You are a disgrace to our nation and to our people.
So, I'm asking you as a fellow human being and American. Try to put yourself in the shoes of these people.
Just for one day.
You wouldn't, would you?
