In recent news, many people have been witnesses to the presidential rallies of Donald Trump. These rallies have been filled with protesters as well as supporters who feel the need to voice themselves as they should due to their first amendment rights. This past week, St. Louis hosted a rally at the Peabody Opera House downtown by Union Station. People came from all over the state and some from other areas of the country to hear Trump speak. I took it upon myself to be a witness to seeing him in our city as well. I have heard other politicians such as Dr. Ben Carson and Bill Clinton speak before. These previous experiences led me to believe that I was going to hear something beneficial despite whether or not I agreed with it. I wanted to attend this rally to see what it was exactly that made people believe that Trump was a good candidate for president in the United States.
During this rally, I witnessed several horrific events. Trump supporters were extremely rude and offensive towards me and the friends that I was with. I couldn't understand why someone who would want to be our president could allow himself to divide the country by race and ethnicity through acts of ethnocentrism. He repeatedly shouted, "get them out of here!," when he was referring to the immigrants that have come to our country. He seemed to be completely against people who immigrated to America. During his speech, he continued to banter the names of the other candidates and insult them in various forms. Many people were kicked out of the event simply because they stated that they didn't agree with his way of thinking. The United States' Bill of Rights states in the first amendment that we all have freedom of speech. We didn't have freedom of speech at this rally. The people of St. Louis came out to protest against his racist and sexist slurs in a peaceful manner. Many of his supporters shouted horrible insults towards me because I am an African American. I was told to go back to my own country. I was told that my people contributed nothing to the formation of this nation. I guess that they had forgotten that The United States was built on the backs of slaves, both Native American and African American. In support of the offensive things Trump said during his speech, his followers shouted out horrific slurs to us. Never did I think that in 2016, someone who lived in our country would yell at me calling me a "porch monkey" and a "murderer". They gave me enough nicknames to have a new one everyday of the month. These are just some of the things that I heard while there. I am not sure why people have decided to follow a man who does nothing but spread racism, sexism, classism, and hate through our nation. We are supposed be one great nation, but it seems we have completely forgotten where we have come from.
We have spat upon our Declaration of Independence and have burned the Bill of Rights with our hatred for our own people. As far as I am concerned, his election will make us none other than the "land of the weak" and "the home of the hate."