When Trump took office four years ago, I was in alone in my room living near my college at the time. I had a pen and paper in hand. Then I went to my laptop and opened a word document. I wandered around my room, from my bed to my desk, and back again all night. Unable to write a single word, unable to sleep. I did not go to sleep that night. The next day my history professor had arranged the desks in a circle. She said: “I am a history teacher. This is a history class. We talk about the past and that is that. But today is different.” With a very serious tone and a pained look, as most of us carried that day, she explained that she wanted to give us time to express how we felt with the shocking, discouraging news.
I spoke. With tears in my eyes and a shaky voice, I said that after hearing the news I did not go to bed. Crying, I explained, “Trump being in office tells me and every other sexual assault survivor that sexual assault and rape is okay.” Several people in the room, including my teacher, nodded their heads with my statement in melancholy solidarity.
Later that day there was a bigger discussion, with chairs arranged in a circle in a room in the student center. The room was extremely somber. Several people spoke. Muslim students expressed their fears for their families. Black and Latino students expressed their fears as well. Fear, anger, sadness—but mostly fear. Everyone listened. Looking back on this day, the group was smaller than it should have been. Sonoma State was overwhelmingly white. It felt like all of the school’s minority groups were present for the discussion. In a school with such a rich and white-dominated environment, classrooms often weren’t a safe place for students of color to express their experiences with racism.
This opportunity for the smaller community to come together to listen to one another came out of one of the worst possible events. It felt like it might as well have been one of the racist, sexist white fraternity brothers who got away with sexual assault and taunted black women as they walked by who had won the presidency. Because well, quite honestly, that’s not too far off.
As the four years have unfolded, the president has let down this country. Giving false information, spreading blatant racist statements about different groups (perhaps most famously that all Mexicans are rapists), treating women as objects, giving statements and the next day giving a completely opposite statement. Do I need to remind us all that he has mocked disabled people, as well as mocked the parents of a U.S. soldier who died because they are Muslim. He has stated that he would perform incest. He stated that he could shoot somebody and nothing would happen to him. He is friends with Putin, and many of their conversations have remained off the record, which quite frankly terrifies me and should terrify the rest of this country. He does not believe in science, nor does he believe in accountability, and honestly, it appears that he does not even believe that his term as president will ever end. This pushes him close to a word known as “tyranny,” but for the sake of keeping readers who might think I am being radical, I will refrain from going more in depth with that.
Beyond the racism, sexism, lack of intelligence, lack of any political experience, or the absolute gibberish that he speaks when referring to anything (filled with adjectives repeated over and over, much like a child), one of the biggest things that has burdened my heart is the sexual assault allegations. There are more than 15 women who have individually stated that Trump sexually assaulted them. One of these victims was thirteen years old at the time.
The interesting thing is that none of the things I have stated have anything to do with his political beliefs. It is hard to keep track of his political beliefs, if there are any at all of substance. It is very hard to believe he has any understanding of the political system or American history whatsoever. I would love to talk about political philosophy, and actually be able to analyze the president’s strategies and goals for making this country better, for supporting its people, for making sure that diplomatic relations between other countries stay diplomatic and intact. For putting respect first, for representing the country in a polite, respectful, and intelligent way. But there is none of that. There is only racism, misogyny, bigotry, and the spreading of false information that has real world consequences. Yes, racism exists and has existed for the entirety of this country. But Trump’s support and encouragement of racism and sexism has deepened the divide and hurt this country far beyond any of us can actually comprehend.
It is not fair that those students that day (and every day) have to be afraid for their lives and the lives of their family members. It is not fair that people of color have to be afraid of the president’s influence on other white people to feel validity in their racist beliefs. It is not fair to sexual assault survivors that our president has so many allegations of sexual assault against him and that no one seems to care. It is disgusting that children even have to see who our president is. It is discouraging and tragic that his words and behavior are something that everyone has to see—including the racist people who were waiting for someone to “finally say what I was thinking.”
The past four years have been an undoing of any kind of greater
movement to unite the country. We are divided, and those of us who are not rich
white men at the head of corporations shall continue to go to sleep at night knowing that Trump does not care
about our existence. I feel this so strongly, from the depths of my soul. He does not care about you, he does not care about me.
This is not about politics. This is not about Biden being great. This is not about disagreeing with Trump politically.
It is about humanity. It is about salvaging any kind of decency left in this country. It is about honoring our soldiers, not making fun of the parents who lost their son fighting for this country because they are Muslim and Trump cannot see beyond his own racism and hatred. It is about protecting not only the lives but the well being of communities of color who have been systemically ignored and now brutally dehumanized by his words and influence. It is about taking responsibility for this country because if four years was not enough time for him to take responsibility of his job, four more years will not change who he is.
I would like to conclude this post with sharing with you a song by Demi Lovato. Please watch the video and listen to her words. The diversity in the video reminds us that we are all in this together, we will not be divided, and we will not buy into the hatred and fear mongering that he has terrorized this country with. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and watch the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Y-lS1trhw
I have also included a link for voting information: https://www.usa.gov/voting?fbclid=IwAR3ayu7DtRcr6vp9BzZYiWyw0K_r1GoXWXLIge-jh8ACP-InNx7El2r4Ezc
