Take a deep breath. Grab a Kleenex a dry your tears because everything will be okay. As I watched one of the most stunning political upsets that have ever happened. First off, to all you Hilary supporters, I know what it feels like to support a campaign and then watch as your candidate has to concede.
I was an intern for Rand Paul back when he was running for president, and it felt kind of bad knowing my candidate had to give up while Donald Trump stayed.
Now, I want this election to be lesson to everyone. I want it to show that you can’t get to the White House by shaming those who disagree with you and quickly jumping to call them racist and making it hard for there to be any discussion.
You know what happens when you shame conservatives? It doesn’t make them any less conservative, it will either make them become very loud as a backlash or they will be quiet voters who still disagree with you. I know this, because this is how I felt.
I am a proud African-American man, who voted for Donald Trump. I now am being referred to as an “Uncle Tom,” or being told me and other minority votes who voted for him are just being used or mislead and don’t even know.
That’s awful, and racist, to assume that just because I’m black and I voted for someone like Trump or that I voted for the GOP, that I can’t possibly have been educated on everything and voted with my conscience. Nope, apparently I’m just a pawn, because that’s not belittling at all.
I know I once wrote criticizing the man. But thoughts and ideas can change. There are things that Hilary Clinton supported, that I absolutely cannot support.
So don’t say I just voted party lines, or that I didn’t do enough research or say that I obviously have support him in everything he does, because I don’t, don’t tie that to me.
I don’t understand why this election has made it so hard for people to believe that millions of honest Americans with no malice in their heart looked at their ballot, considered the choices, had background knowledge and weren’t “Just fed conspiracy theories and lies from Fox News.”
That is so insulting to the intelligence of people who voted, and I don’t understand why some have set out to be as hurtful as possible in the wake of this election.
Next, it hurts me to see how this election has affected people close to me, on both sides. I have had to sit here and watch my father refer to all Trump supporters as “dumbasses,” and say that whatever happens after this election is our fault.
Now he’s not alone, the amount of articles and social media posts I’ve seen have honestly disgusted and saddened me. I’m sorry you feel afraid, but I honestly believe you shouldn’t. LGBTQ+ rights are not under fire by Trump right now. The process it would take for those to be truly affected, is long and drawn out and will be fought with heavy opposition, including from me.
Women’s rights are not being threatened currently. If you’re talking about the right to choose and abortion, that’s a whole other argument, and there are people who genuinely don’t see abortion as a women’s rights or human rights issue, but a life or death issue.
Yes, I am a male, but I don’t think women should fear that now men are going to grope or sexually assault them more now, it’s not acceptable, it never was acceptable, the people who voted for Donald Trump didn’t see it as acceptable.
I may have voted for the man, but I have a fantastic mother, two amazing sisters and a truly amazing girlfriend and I will always stand up to protect them and ensure their safety.
Hispanics, Trump’s rhetoric can be scary, but I can promise you that you are safe. Same to you Muslim Americans. You both have rights, you both have human rights, I see the humanity in you all and so does the majority of Americans regardless of what the media or internet says.
If you read this and thought “He’s completely out of his mind, I don’t agree with this at all,” that’s fine, you read it and gave me a chance and that’s all I could ask of you. If you came to me with an open mind, thank you.
I hope we all can listen to Hilary Clinton and accept that Donald Trump is going to be our president and “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.” If this turns out to be an unsuccessful presidency, we will get through it, this won’t be the end of our nation. I promise that. I promise that things may look rough but we still need to keep moving along, working hard, staying focus and being the best most productive people possible.
I don’t believe our future is bleak. I don’t believe that our entire country is now racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, sexist, or uneducated. I’ve lived in a lot of places around the U.S., and there are amazing people out there who are just doing what they feel is in everyone’s best interest, and I trust that.
So everyone, even though I know it will be hard, stay positive, please. The sun will continue to rise and shine brightly upon our country.