Elena Price
Elena Price
Over a week has passed since the election and I’ve come to terms with the results. The initial shock has passed and I feel a bit more comfortable with the future. This level of calm does not only have to do with President-elect Donald Trump’s possible softening of his stance on certain issues, but also from talking to my more conservative friends.
At first, like many, I was upset with everyone who had voted for Trump because I saw it as a sign that they didn’t care about me or others who may be hurt because of this election.
I was also upset because, if Hillary Clinton had become president, she would have been more than just another Democrat in office — she would have been our country’s first female president. In the 240-year history of this great country, a woman has never been elected president. Having a woman as the leader of the free world would have made a statement to the world and helped to end our present-day situation where American women and men are still not equal.
Furthermore, I knew that while some students were not worried, others were scared out of their minds and you can’t tell someone their emotions of gladness aren’t as valid as your sadness.
I attended part of the demonstration of post-election solidarity that took place at Wolf Plaza Friday. There were a multitude of moving speeches by many different people and one of the most impactful to me was given by Rupert Nacoste, an NC State psychology professor. He said that these emotions we are feeling are good and important.
“Lots of emotions means that this is real to you,” Nacoste said.
Trump’s election is very real to me. People have the right to be upset and afraid. I’m afraid because, as a Hispanic woman, I’m uncertain about my future. I’m worried about the people who may be deported, discriminated against or may lose their health insurance. Yet, the fact remains: Trump will be the next president of the United States of America. Trying to cope with this fact, I put myself in other people’s shoes to better understand why they made the choice they did.
The most common argument I hear from my conservative friends is that just because Trump made racist, bigoted and misogynistic statements throughout his campaign, it doesn’t mean everyone who voted for him agrees with him. That said, I do not believe that all Trump voters are racists, bigots and misogynists, but this vote does impact people.
Trump’s rhetoric during the campaign sparked an increase in attacks on minorities. I have already seen backlash on Twitter and Facebook since the election, where people have begun to discriminate against others and feel justified to do so because Trump is now our president. Even on our campus, white supremacist fliers were found on bulletin boards and in a Nubian Message stand. This is unacceptable.
I have also noticed that most of the people I’ve talked to who are not afraid or concerned about the President-elect are upper-middle-class white people. I suspect that these people do not feel very threatened by a Trump presidency because they are not part of the demographic that Trump has targeted with his remarks. In order for those people to understand why people are upset with the election, they first need to acknowledge their privilege.
As a student at NC State, I think I was a little less surprised at the outcome of the election than some of my friends that attend other colleges and universities in North Carolina. NC State has a more conservative demographic than UNC-Chapel Hill or Duke. However, I was still very surprised. Many of my Trump-supporting friends had already half-heartedly admitted defeat, and I was in the midst of imagining what a Hillary America would look like.
Despite the uncanny amount of pantsuits I saw, I was hopeful and ready.
I completely understand the #notmypresident protests. That’s initially how I felt as well, but nonetheless, he will be our president in January. Almost half of the United States voting population chose him to be the next leader of our country. Does this mean we need to support everything he says or does? Absolutely not. If we disagree with a law or view it as unjust or unconstitutional, it is our responsibility as Americans to protest and fight for justice.
Don’t get me wrong, I was distraught and embarrassed election night. I was angry and even hostile. I needed someone to blame so I lashed out at my friends who voted third party or wrote in another name, but then I realized that this is what democracy feels like. Democracy is often surprising and upsetting, but it’s the foundation on which this country was built and we are very privileged to have it.
This isn’t a declaration of passivity. It’s the opposite. I will fight for what I believe to be just. I am simply accepting that Donald Trump will be the president of the United States come Jan. 20, but I will not stand idly by when the actions (or inactions) of Trump or any part of government result in injustice. I will, however, stand with my fellow Americans and treat them with respect and kindness to show that the hatred he has incited in the past will not prevail.
My goal and hope is to start a dialogue between people on both sides of the political divide; for people to seek to understand and empathize with each other and then to move forward together to address the sources of our problems.