On a daily basis, I scroll through Twitter and am bombarded with strongly-worded tweets from anti-Trumpers who can’t stand the thought of Donald Trump moving into the White House. #NotMyPresident appears probably once every three tweets. Someone went so far as to get a tattoo that says “Not my [expletive] president.” It’s clear that, currently, a steep divide exists between the left and the right. A divide that has been widened by the racist, offensive bigotry of President-elect Trump.
Let me make it clear, I am not 18, so I did not vote in the election. Also, I would consider myself a conservative, but I do not support any of the things that the Republican Trump has said towards women, minorities, or the LGBTQ community. Your gender or race do not have any impact on your worth, and your views on sexual orientation may differ from mine, but that doesn’t make you any less valuable. I am pro-life, and that goes for lives inside and outside the womb. I believe that there has been systemic racism in America for centuries, and there needs to be attention called to the fact that minorities have been oppressed, but that does not mean that any one race has more importance than another.
Right now, there’s really no way out of it. Barring an unprecedented 38 electors going faithless and voting for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is going to be inaugurated on January 20, 2017. He will be the 45th president of the United States of America, so protesting his election is not only fairly pointless, it’s completely disrespecting the president’s authority. I would feel the exact same way if conservatives were protesting a liberal’s election.
I do not support Donald Trump. That would be like a slap in the face to my Mexican-American friends, my Muslim friends, my African-American friends, and every woman I have ever met. One of Trump’s most offensive quotes was “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you… they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.” This is just a microcosm of Trumps offensive rhetoric, and it is very understandable to be fearful of what he will do in the next four years.
President-elect Trump is intolerant.
He is oppressive and cutting towards those with views that are different than his. As a people, the way to combat this intolerance is by being tolerant ourselves. Tolerance does not mean you have to always agree, but it means that you don’t hate people when their views differ from yours. For instance, I believe that gay marriage is wrong, but I believe it is equally wrong to oppress someone for having homosexual tendencies.
Trump himself has somewhat bailed from a lot of the things he said on the campaign trail, and has “denounced” racism. His supporters though, are taking racism to new heights under the guise of following Trump’s lead. Alt-right leader Richard Spencer gave a speech in Washington DC in support of President-elect Trump, saying “Hail Trump,” while members of the audience threw up Nazi salutes.
This is saddening, but we need to acknowledge the fact that Richard Spencer is not President-elect Trump, and the racist Trump supporters are not Donald Trump. We as Americans need to give Trump a chance now that he has been elected. We respect our country and the presidency, so he deserves the respect we would give any president, whether we think he has earned it or not.
I believe that all authority is instilled by God, and therefore needs to be treated with respect. I also have the ultimate faith in Him. So for whatever reason, he has Donald Trump in the Oval Office. I may not know why, but I believe God is sovereign, and I believe his is good, so I do not need to fear.
The United States faces one of the steepest divides in our history. Donald Trump has already built a wall; A seemingly impenetrable wall between the Democrats and the Republicans.
In my own circle, there are people on the Clinton side and people on the Donald side. People who have loved one another for years are now sharply divided because they can’t see how someone would vote for a racist bigot, or how someone could vote for a corrupt pro-choicer. If my circle is like that, think about what the world is like.
I can’t say that Trump will be a good president. I can’t say that he won’t deport millions of people. I can’t say that he won’t keep his racist views, and I personally am very concerned seeing Steve Bannon put in one of the highest positions in government. It sounds possible that Mitt Romney will be the Secretary of State, and I support that move. I love Ben Carson accepting the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He has a love for people and for growth, and I think he could really do a great job. I like Paul Ryan staying Speaker of the House, but only time can really tell how these people will work with Trump.
Right now, I’m not particularly thrilled with the way America is going. It’s almost painful to watch the divisions that exist between genders, race, and just beliefs. Rapper Propaganda sums up this feeling much more eloquently and efficiently than I do with the words, “At times America makes me very upset, but I still ain’t gave up on it yet.”
I can echo that sentiment. Right now, America makes me very upset. Racism is killing us. Sexism is killing us. America is being ripped apart because my fellow Americans on the right cannot join with my fellow Americans on the left. We, as a country, need to be more willing to hear the other sides of things. We need to address our issues, admit our weaknesses and together, fix them. I have faith that we can prove that the we really are a people united and willing to accept other people’s differences.