I, like so many others, had a rough night last night. The election results were not what I expected and I experienced shock, anger, and fear. I have never felt so overwhelmed by emotion. It’s took me until late this morning to truly wrap my mind around everything. I’ll be honest, I still don’t understand all the emotions I was experiencing, but I do know that one was fear. Fear for Americans who are not white, male, straight, and Christian. The thought of leaving the country crossed my mind as a legitimate possibility. I am Hispanic, my wife is black, and my kids are a wonderful mix of the two. I feared for my family. My faith in the American political process was so shattered that I immediately began envisioning Nazi Germany in America. That may be hyperbole, but it feels like the beginning.
I was also heartbroken. I love this country. There is no doubt in my mind that The United States is the greatest country in the world, but last night, I doubted that for the first time in my 31 years of life. How could the greatest country in the world elect this to our highest office? I’ve always felt America still had more to do, there’s still racism, sexism, and xenophobia. But we were making progress, the conversations were being had. Now, we’ve elected someone who represents everything we say we’re against? This is not the America I love.
It wasn’t until this morning when I was shaken out of my shock that I began to start thinking clearly. There’s a lot of hate right now. There’s a lot of resentment on both sides. This makes us weak. We have to love each other. Whether we’re white, black or any color in between. Whether we’re Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Wiccan, atheist, or whatever you brings you spiritual fulfillment. Gay, straight or questioning. Cis-gender or transgender. Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter. We are all Americans. We are all humans.
There are plenty of Republicans for whom Trump is also the nightmare scenario it is for Democrats. They feel Trump and his ilk have hijacked their beloved party and turned into a sick abomination of what it once was. I sympathize with them. Some voted for Hillary, others third party, but either way, they see Trump for what he is and understand the danger he poses.
Now, what’s done is done. Trump is our next President. All we can now do is look towards the future, and the future is not as bleak as this setback would make it seem. We got complacent and allowed the dark underbelly of America to reach our highest office. These four years will be a struggle, but our democracy was designed specifically for this. No President has all the power. He can’t do anything without 535 checks from the the congress and 9 from the Supreme Court. The First Amendment to the Constitution also puts 319 million roadblocks between this President elect and his unconstitutional campaign promises becoming the law of the land. There is a path forward.
We have to mobilize. We have to continue to expose Trump for what he is. We have to fight him with protests to any backwards and dangerous policy he tries to implement. Above all else, we must turnout in 2020 and push him out in such numbers that we show the world that America has not lost it’s way, we just got distracted. We are still bright beacon of democracy and freedom.