“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”
This speech was delivered on August 28th, 1963 by Martin Luther King Jr. He had a dream he wasn’t able to see come to pass. Today is November 9, 2016, 53 years, 2 months, and 12 days later, the day after the 58th presidential election and yet we find ourselves electing a president who does not see the content of people’s characters but only the color of their skin, or their religion, or race, or sex. You would think we would have taken a step forward in 53 years but last night was one big giant step back.
On this day, 27 years ago, November 9th, 1989, The Berlin Wall came down. That day represented so many good things for the future of this world and for all the people affected. But here we sit today, electing a man who wishes to put up a wall around our borders to keep people out. What an interesting irony we are facing on this particular anniversary. As I look at these two important moments in history, I am immensely saddened to see where we are at now. Forward motion enables progress, backwards motion impedes is. We are currently stuck in reverse.
So how did we get here? How did we elect a man who has a hearing next month where he has been accused of rape? Think about that for a second. How did we elect a man who spoke appallingly about a female reporter in a sexual manner and wrote it off as “locker room talk?” His whole campaign, Trump has done nothing but degrade women. We are the gum underneath his shoe. What message does this send to women and men everywhere? The message it sends is that it is OK to sexually assault women. It’s OK to sexually harass women. It is OK to treat women like second rate citizens. It’s OK to treat women like trash. As someone who has been sexually harassed and assaulted at work by older men, I know what this means for millions of women and girls out there. I felt powerless because nothing was done about it and it was written off as a non-issue. Now the justification has been given for it to continue to happen with the feeling that it is OK because we elected a guy who has done these things. That is the message that has been sent.
How did we get here? How did we elect a man who wants to prevent any Muslim from entering the country? America use to be the beacon of hope. It used to be the place people from other countries migrated to in order to feel safe, to escape persecution, tyranny, and injustice. In the constitution there is to be no establishment of religion and freedom to exercise the religion of your choosing. Trump is spitting on what our forefathers created. He is promoting an anti-Muslim sentiment. The message we sent last night was that it is OK to hate people for their religion. And what about the Hispanics who he wants to exclude from our country as well? Remember that wall?
How did we get here? How did we elect a man whose running mate is very anti the LGBTQ community? A man who believes we should electrocute people who are gay to cure them? A man who believes people in the community should be sent to conversion camps? A man who, let’s not sugar coat it, wants to physically harm people in this community to “fix” them?
How did we get here? How did we elect a man whose history and words have shown he is racist and discriminates against the African American community? He refused to condemn white supremacists who have campaigned for him. The KKK supports him and approves of everything he is doing.
What am I supposed to say to my women friends? My Muslim friends? My Hispanic friends? My LGBTQ friends? My African American friends? To all my friends this effects? All I can say is, I am sorry we failed you.
So again I ask, how did we get here?
There are many reasons that helped Trump become President. One obvious one is he gave a voice to the people who agree with his racist, bigoted, misogynistic, white supremacist views. He encouraged those beliefs to become mainstream and people were no longer afraid to stand up with him. It shows how much hate is alive and well in this country.
The second reason falls on the democrats’ shoulders. In the economic collapse of 2008, so many people lost everything that year. What happens when you lose everything? Sometimes, you get angry. The anger festers and gains momentum when nothing is done for those who were effected. Millions of people were cheated and lost money because of the big pockets of Wall Street but yet no justice was given to these people. Wall Street walked free with padded pockets. I remember that time well. I remember thinking then, why weren’t those responsible held accountable? Why weren’t they prosecuted? I also remember thinking Obama was too afraid to stand up against them. This was a BIG mistake. This helped nurture that flame of anger and fanned the flames to an inferno. Anger at the democratic establishment=Trump as President. People felt Trump could tear the establishment down.
The democrats also screwed up by backing Hilary Clinton in the first place. They have been pipe lining her to the presidency for several years. The party did not want anyone but her. The problem is, they ignored what a polarizing figure she is. So many people genuinely dislike her all across the board. They hopped on a ship they refused to get off and impeded any other ship from challenging her. There is a reason all the polls showed in the primaries that if it was down to Bernie and Trump, Bernie would win handedly. He was fighting for the people and was anti-establishment which is what people, including myself, wanted. I wanted change. Others wanted change. We in all likelihood would not be where we are at now if he was the democratic nominee. The democrats only have themselves to blame for this. Their stubbornness and no longer standing up for and with the every-man helped facilitate this result.
The third reason is the media. During the primaries, you rarely heard another name spoken other than Donald Trump. He is a pop culture icon and our society loves pop culture icons. We place more value on them then we do the issues that really matter. The media helped propel him into the spotlight. The more exposure, the more people latch on. And during the election, they had more coverage over those inconsequential Clinton emails than they did anything else. They poured water on the seeds of doubt already present.
There are other factors as well but it was perfect storm of events that led to the scary situation we find ourselves in. One of the scariest things is the President nominates the Supreme Court Justices. We will be extremely lucky if no other justice dies in the next 4 years. They shape so many things that happen in this country. The ramifications will be felt for decades to come.
The funny thing is, once again the person who received the popular vote did not become President. We have a system which gives an inordinate amount of power to the rural vote. What a messed up system we have.
What a messed up world we live in.
If you are feeling sad, upset, angry, frustrated, indignant, scared, trust me, you are not alone. I am sorry to my fellow Americans of EVERY community. I will stand with you no matter what and you will always have my support.
As Yoda said, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Welcome to the dark side.
