Hello, everyone. I know we don’t know each other that well but we need to sit down and have a talk.
A lot has happened in the past week. Tensions are high and a division between us is becoming very apparent. I’m not here to tell anyone to move past what’s happened, to set every single one of our differences aside and force each other to be friends. That’s not what’s going to fix things. We need to open a dialogue.
Trump supporters: listen to why the opposing side is upset. There are many, many groups of people who are going to be affected by this presidency in different ways.
Transgender people are afraid of being looked at as illegitimate, that their identity is “all in their heads.” The Latin@ community is terrified of the threat of deportation and being alienated from the rest of the country by a wall, both metaphoric and physical. Queer couples have to worry about having the right to marry who they love be overturned.
Women might get denied access to birth control because their insurance will no longer pay for it. Reproductive rights could be lost if Roe v. Wade is overturned as planned. People with disabilities have to worry about losing their insurance under the Affordable Care Act because insurance companies will be allowed to deny them coverage because of pre-existing conditions. People of color are facing an increase in exposed racism and hate.
And to those that didn’t vote for Trump: listen and understand why this happened. Why many people have become disillusioned by our government. Why people were so desperate to get drastic change in a government office that they voted for someone that continuously proved that he was not fit to be the president and represent the true, genuine values of America.
To achieve the things we all want so much
for this country; equal rights, an improved economy, affordable healthcare, a reformed judicial/police/prison system, a better educational system for both ourselves and our future children, a country that all people can feel safe in, etc., we can’t separate.
We have to understand each other so that we can work on building a better future FOR each other.
Hopefully, you get the picture. And with that, I’ll end with this. Go to a protest. Attend a club meeting for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) or the National Organization for Women (NOW) or any other kind of diverse, multi-cultural group of people right here on campus.
We ALL need to talk. Not just liberals amongst themselves, not conservatives in their own little bubbles. We need to talk and make OUR America greater than it’s ever been.