People of color, LGBTQ+ community real losers of 2016 race

Cayla Bush//Editor in Chief

I was not and will probably never be with Her. I am, however, without a doubt against him. I am a firm believer that the two-party system which continually forces citizens to choose the lesser evil needs to be burned to the ground and rebuilt.

I am not the idealist who thinks this will happen in my lifetime.

In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, I’ve quickly moved through shock and anger to a place of deep hurt and fear.

As Barack Obama said during his campaigns for Hillary Clinton, there was a lot at stake; democracy was on the ballot, progress was on the ballot. But for me, black security was on the ballot. LGBTQ+ peace was on the ballot. The freedom to religion was on the ballot.

My sanity, security and safety were on the ballot. And in droves, Americans said it did not matter.

For anyone who had to watch Clinton stand at the podium on the morning of Nov. 9, delivering her concession speech with a smile, what you witnessed was the epitome of what it’s like to be a woman in this America. We mustn’t complain, we can’t dare cry, we’ve got to keep our heads high and faces clear of emotion. If, for whatever reason, we feel that facing the crowds in the midst of our hurt and pain is too much, well, damn it, that’s too bad. You’ve got to put your face on and not give them a reason to call you a petty woman.

If you watched Barack Obama stand behind the podium, you saw a man who, after facing years of racism and who had his own birth challenged by a man endorsed by the KKK, had to promise peace and assistance in transition.

What we all witnessed on November 8 and 9, 2016, whether you’ll admit it or not, was racism and hate winning the election. We can point fingers, and place blame on the shoulders of third-party voters, those who wrote in names on their ballots and those who did not vote, but at some point we’ve got to wake up and realize that they’re truly not the ones to blame.

The ones to blame are those who stood in the booth or sat at home, and bubbled in the Trump/Pence ticket. We should place blame on those who voted down the ballot for Republicans regardless of candidates’ stands on the issues and handed the party the House and the Senate.

I’ve said it on social media, I’ll say it again here: anyone who voted for Trump and is not an Anglo-Saxon, cisgender, heterosexual man did a serious disservice to themselves.

Those of you who subscribe to the “them but not me” mentally are equally a part of the problem, especially any minority who heard what Donald Trump and the overwhelming majority of the Republican Party felt about their counterparts.

In the coming years, we’ll see environmental policies experience a setback, especially considering Trump’s appointment of a climate change skeptic to the head of the EPA transition. We’ll see a dismantlement of the Affordable Care Act, the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Because of the “he’s not a criminal or a liar” mentality, you have successfully told your friends who are people of color and not cisgendered or heterosexual that you are comfortable with the discrimination and hateful rhetoric and ideologies he represents.

Socially, I do not know the America I will face in the coming days. I do not even know the face of the enemies I may encounter in the coming days. What I do know, however, is that there are bleak days ahead for people of color and anyone on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Those of us who are suffering from the blows this election has dealt us and the setback we’ve experienced, I ask that you push forward. In the midst of hurt, sorrow and anger remember to reach out to your fellow minorities and LGBTQ+ friends. Show them the love America didn’t.

Most importantly, it’s time to steady ourselves for the fight that is ahead. We’ve got to double-down, and prepare ourselves for the 2018 elections when we have the opportunity to take back Congress.

We’ve got to find and support candidates who will fight for and believe in the America we were promised. We’ve got to convince our counterparts who are disgusted with the system to vote.

Until then, we cannot give the obvious hatred in our country the opportunity to see us shaken. It will be hard, it will be dark and it will be a setback.

But this too shall pass.

 

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of FIU Student Media Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.