PRO/CON: The con; what were they thinking?
The day of the election, I woke up early to drop off my ballot. It was the first presidential election I was able to vote in. Despite not favoring either candidate nor the candidate of my party, the Libertarian party, I voted for who I thought would protect my basic human rights along with millions of others.
That night I watched the electoral votes roll in and as the count for Donald J. Trump’s votes grew, I became increasingly aware of how the next four years would be lived in fear.
Every election is bound to create major disagreements. People have different views, it’s basic human nature. That being said, reports of discrimination around the country followed the result of the election.
This election became more than just selecting a new leader to guide the country, it became about race, religion and sexuality. These are aspects that distinguish ourselves, and the freedom to be and think however we please is being severely threatened.
I have never been so struck with panic after watching an election. The first thing I thought of was the safety of my mom. I don’t look Hispanic; I have a fairly light complexion. My mom on the other hand is pretty dark, and I fear that it immediately makes her a target for discrimination.
My parents came to the United States illegally from different paths but together they made the decision to raise their family here to provide more opportunities. Before that, my great grandmother was part of the first Braceros program – a program that recruited Mexicans to the U.S. to work on farms.
The workers were largely discriminated against and weren’t paid enough to have a savings despite the fact they were producing and maintaining agriculture that would make its way into the mouths of “true” Americans. My family history is just a small example of how immigration has been a helping hand to the U.S. workforce.
Trump wants to spend billions of dollars to build a wall to separate the U.S. from a country that has provided immigrants who have been nothing but helpful. How is that in any way logical?
In light of the executive orders and the overall idea of Trump’s presidency, there have been many protests around the country.
Trump signed an executive order attempting to ban a handful of middle eastern country travelers to enter the U.S. as well as limiting the amount of refugees accepted without any rational justification in doing so.
Another executive order signed by Trump was to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Doing so takes away affordable healthcare for millions of people. This repeal comes without an actual planned replacement, leaving many concerned.
The day after Trump’s inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women around the world came together to march and demonstrate social injustice issues.
Trump’s motives are debatable, but it’s not always so much what he can do but what he represents.
Trump even defended Milo Yiannopoulos, a media troll with extreme nazi-like views, after UC Berkeley protested an event Yiannopoulos held. The man upholds hate speech and Trump defended it under the First Amendment.
It’s completely fascistic to tell people to be silent when they are fighting for civil liberties. Are we to ignore the past and how hard the women’s suffrage, labor workers, civil rights and LGBTQ movements have fought just to have a sense of equality and freedom?
I love my country, but I will not stand to be told to stay silent just to appease the minds of those who want to take away my rights as a woman of color. As splendid as oblivity may seem, we shouldn’t have to be white males to be happy.
The solution is to keep fighting because as history has taught us, the country gained its independence by protesting and fighting, African Americans pushed and fought to end the completely unethical practice of segregation, labor workers united for better treatment, women gained the freedom to vote and same-sex marriage was legalized.
These protest are not “special snowflakes” crying “liberal tears.” These are your fellow neighbors stricken with perturbation.
To read the ‘PRO’ side of this story, click on the following link: