I can’t even really say that you’ve failed me. You were never really meant to work in my favor, but your recent progress made me a bit more hopeful for the future. For my future. For the future of millions of people marginalized by the hateful rhetoric spewed by our newest president-elect. Maybe you haven’t failed me, but I’m incredibly disappointed.
This has been the most depressing election that I’ve witnessed to date. I don’t feel safe anymore, and I am legitimately scared for a lot of my friends and other innocent people whose identities have been attacked by Donald Trump and many of his supporters. In just the few days following the election, so much hatred and racism are surfacing, showing just how emboldened Trump’s supporters have become.
I’ve cried countless times, and I’ve felt sick ever since I heard the news. Americans elected a leader who campaigned on bigotry, xenophobia and ignorance. The demographic that won Trump the election is overwhelmingly homogeneous, and this goes to show that the majority of the American population is still white. This doesn’t say all white people voted for Trump, but the majority did, and that’s a major reason he won.
A lot of think pieces that have come out since election night have centered on the demographics of voters and how people voted by gender. Though it can seem overdone, it’s important to look into these things because they say more than just “I voted for ____ because I agree with their policies,” or the like. Race and gender have played a role in every election in America where all races and genders were allowed to vote, but I can’t shake the feeling that this election is quite different from the rest.
Looking at the numbers, if only women (all races included) voted, Hillary Clinton would have won easily. Women overall support her even though their support for her across the map varies. Clinton, though not the first woman to run for president, has been one of the most highly qualified and well-known women to run for president in the United States. She has held positions in government even when the public thought she should stay out of the spotlight for her husband’s career’s sake. All that being said, Clinton did not win the support of those at the intersection of her race and gender. White women prioritized their race over their gender, and the majority supported Trump in this election.
Another factor to take note of is race. If only minorities voted, Clinton would have won in an embarrassing landslide. This says that the majority of minority voters either could see their best interests within Clinton’s campaign, or that they were threatened by Trump’s promises. A lot of people believe that the latter holds the most truth, and if that is the case, there is a problem. Even if the candidate the people end up voting for does have their interests at heart, no one should feel the need to vote for anyone out of fear of what the other candidate will do. That is not freedom, and the fact that American people elected a candidate like that is sad.
America has always been racist and it has always been home to hateful people. Full stop. A lot of efforts have been made to cover it up, and those who are racist have kept quiet for the most part, but Trump has given these racist people a platform and a voice to spew their hatred and ideas of supremacy and oppression. The people who have always had harmful ideas of minorities and women have been told that their beliefs are wrong (which in the case of ignorance, they are), so it makes sense for them to jump on a candidate who validates their innermost feelings about other people.
Anyone able to look past Trump’s racism, sexism and xenophobia is clearly standing at a point of great privilege and has no real working knowledge of how Trump’s words alone have already had an impact on the lives of so many people. Although Trump cannot undo every policy that has been put into place to improve the lives of minorities, his candidacy, and now his election, has exposed racist America for what it always has been. God damns America.
Hope Hynson is a sophomore journalism major. She can be reached at hopehynson@gmail.com.
