Ladies and gentlemen of America. I am sorry.

As I am writing this, it is less than twelve hours after the results of Election Day trickled in and a new president was declared. By the time you are reading this, is has been about a week. Some things may have changed, and hopefully for the better. But today…we are all in shock.

Today has been rough here at school. I only had two classes today and both were political science courses. We watched Hillary Clinton’s concession speech in the first and President Obama’s statement in the second. There were tears, even from one of my professors, dressed in sweats. Many of us were angry, scared and devastated. I can’t tell you how many Facebook posts I have seen from friends, not even articles, but just their feelings of anger and fear. A lot of these posts are from people who aren’t even active on Facebook.

I understand some of you reading this have a right to be rejoiced that your candidate has won.

But many of us have every reason to be angry and afraid.

This is a man who has done nothing but degrade women. This is a man who has made fun of the mentally disabled and our veterans. This is a man who advocates for sexual harassment. This is a man who has no f*cking idea how to run a country.

This is a man who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and possibly the gay marriage decision. This is a man who wants to take away my right to choose and our right to decide who we want to marry. This is a man who hates immigrants. Who wants to build a wall between two countries.

And people really think he’s the best candidate?

I understand the angry electorate he has tapped into. I understand that people are angry and sick and tired as being labeled as a bigot because they make an off-color joke every so often. I understand that many people are pissed because if they make a sexist remark as a joke, they are marked as sexist. I understand that both men and women make comments like that, but there is a double standard for men. I get that you're angry.

But this is not a man who is just spewing “locker room” talk. He. Believes it (And for God’s sake, if you really want to take part in that, keep it in the God-damn locker room.). This is a man who is saying he will face no repercussions for sexually assaulting someone else because he is famous. It is because of men like him that we end up with boys like Brock Turner. This is a man who has the power to turn back all of the progress we as a society have made over the past century or more. He can make that all go away.

And some of you will argue that no, he won’t. Some may argue that he can do less damage in the White House than Hillary Clinton would have.

That is so wrong.

Clinton would have done so much less damage. And you know why? Because the Republicans control the entirety of Congress and they would have refused to work with her on anything, simply because she’s a Democrat. That is not the case with Trump, especially if many of the Republicans in office are tea-partiers and more likely to work with him.

These next four years are going to be hard. The market dropped 800 points on Election Night. People are pulling money out the market because they are afraid and uncertain about their future. Even though the market rebounded since then how the hell is that supposed to help with Trump’s “secret plan” for our economy?

The whole world was watching us last night, and I’m positive they are just as shocked as we are. Numerous countries have said throughout this campaign that they do not want to deal with us if Trump becomes president. And even if they do, how is that going to help our international relations?

Honestly, I am ashamed. I am ashamed of my state. I am ashamed of my country. And yes, I know we all have the right to vote, and the “people have spoken”, but they really haven’t. Clinton won the popular vote, not Trump. But regardless, I am ashamed. I am ashamed to live in a country where we are so sharply divided on things we shouldn’t be. This election has not only shown the frustration the vast majority of Americans have with Washington, and rightfully so, but it also shows how ignorant and uneducated we are. How misogynistic we are, how racist and sexist and hateful.

I know not everyone who voted for Trump is ignorant or hateful or a bigot or any of that. Please don’t believe that, because that thought it just plain wrong. However, the fact that a bigot like Trump has been elected to the highest seat in the country, maybe even the world, has just validated every bigot in our country. It is telling them their thoughts and actions are okay, and they. Are. Not. And they may not be a majority, but you do not need a majority of people to do a lot of damage, and I am very afraid of these people can and may do, because they can point to our president and say, “Well he can do it. Why can’t I?” And you wonder why we are scared? Why people were crying after the results came in and why people are now terrified for their lives?

I get it if you don’t like Clinton. I don’t either. But Trump…I don’t even have the words to express the vastness of my emotions. I am shocked and angry and afraid. Very afraid. I can work with differences of opinion. Many of us can, that’s the entire point of government. But half of the country should not feel AFRAID of what their new president will do to them because they are not a straight white male. They don’t care about his policies because they are now afraid what will happen to their lives. That should never, ever happen, especially in a country we claim to be the leader of the free world and some of the most civilized people on the planet.

I know you want change. I want change too. But electing someone like him isn’t going to get anyone the change we want and the change we deserve. Not when he represents so much fear and hatred to half of his constituents.

I am not arguing this is the end of democracy. This will be a peaceful transition of power, and we will prevail. In another two years, representatives will be up for election again. Even though we can’t call a referendum on the president, if you aren’t happy with what he and his party are doing, vote for the other party. Write to your representatives. That’s the only way we can fix any of this.

And so my friends, we must battle on. We must hold our elected officials accountable, whoever they may be. We must be kind to one another, now more than ever. This was a historical election, and many things hang in the balance. I am afraid, and I know many of you are too. But we will be okay. Our participation in our system did not end when the ballots closed last night. As Hillary Clinton said, our system “demands our participation”, and we must do so if we are really ever going to make this country great again.

As much as I don’t like him, I do hope Trump will be a decent president. I do not think I can ever forgive him for what he has said about many groups of people over the past 18 months, but I am hoping he does not act on what he has said. Some people are saying he was so radical just to get the votes of the silent majority. And God, I hope they’re right. But we must respect the fact that, whether we like it or not, he is our president. We have to work with it and hope to God, or Allah, or the universe, or the Giant Spaghetti Monster for all I care that his presidency will not be a reflection on what his campaign was.

I might not like her or agree with her, but Clinton said something really powerful today in her concession speech. She said we must keep fighting for what we believe in, because it will all be worth it in the end. Fight with me, and we will make America great again, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.