I have managed to stay away from writing about the election, but as the inauguration is growing increasingly near, I cannot stay silent any longer. I am fearful, I am anxious, I am overwhelmed, and I am burdened by sorrow that my fellow Americans have put something into play that will undoubtedly be a troublesome and frightening era for this country.
I have the opportunity, writing for this newspaper, to say what I feel on a public platform. I am thankful for this, and wonder how long I will be able to do so freely. About four weeks ago, I wrote a piece, “Trumptastrophe,” imploring the community to not vote for this man.
My wish was not granted, and there were letters to the editor and to myself about this column. Nothing too bad, nothing that I wasn’t prepared for. However, I wasn’t prepared for people calling my home phone number, a tactic I’m sure was used to intimidate me. It didn’t work. If anything, this just proves to me that we have much to be concerned about with this new administration, one that doesn’t have to do the dirty work of harassing and intimidating those who oppose their views, becauseTrump supporters do all of his dirty work for him. It’s sickening.
I am not going to stand by and do nothing. I have noticed that I have been having a very physical reaction to the election results. I am shaky and anxious, and I have lost my “zest” for life. I couldn’t understand what was going on, and then after a not-so-successful visit to family (Trump supporters), I realized that my despair was directly tied to the future of this country, and those that live here.
Basic human kindness is now considered a “weakness.” This country has voted for someone who is actively waging war on the American people and is using half of those people to fight the other half. Sound familiar? The privileged white population who elected this man seem to have no concern for the public welfare of its most vulnerable citizens. According to Trumpites that I know, if you need public assistance, you’re lazy; if you’re a Muslim, you’re trying to convert people to your religion or else kill them, the police only shoot people who point guns at them, and oh, by the way, the majority of those people who have guns are black, because remember: open carry is only supported for white people. Do I sound angry? It’s because I am. I am very, very angry, and very concerned about our future.
As I type this, Trump is actively trying to discredit the CIA for letting it be known that Putin did try and get him elected. Trump, with a single tweet, can activate his soldiers and they will do all the dirty work that is needed. If you speak out against Trump, his supporters will harass you; if you write a story that is unflattering about Trump, he will discredit the newspaper or news station. How is it that one man can brainwash a majority of people to believe that all news is bad, that colleges are no longer credible due to their “liberal” ways, do you see where this is going, because if you don’t see, when it finally gets here don’t say I didn’t warn you. Martial law, protests, it’s going to get ugly in the upcoming months. And I don’t say this as a “fear” tactic; I say this because, looking back on history, this is the direction in which we are going. I want you to wake up and get worried, and then, get angry and motivated to do something. We need to oppose, oppose, and oppose everything that this administration wants to enact. Do you currently have Medicare? Well, you should get worried; with privatization of
Medicare you will be up the creek without the ability to afford insurance. Are you Hispanic, Muslim, black, female, gay, transgender? Then you need to get motivated, because we have a lot of work to do. Get involved, get active, BE THE CHANGE that you want to see happen.
There is so much turmoil now, we have to stand up and protest that which is socially unjust, we have to do the grunt work, the hard work, the uncomfortable work. We WILL be the change; it’s our only hope.
