Welcome to Trump's America. His victory comes as a shock to many - those wishful thinkers that believed there was no way for someone with a mouth like his to become the voice of our nation. Maybe that was the voice all along, once silent but now emboldened and surely not going away anytime soon.
Many of us felt the despair this morning, but that's not the only feeling going around. For each of us who are hurting, another is celebrating this victory as a big f*ck you to the establishment.
Let's disregard for a moment the irony that a man who is literally the product of the elite is being touted as the one to take them down and focus on the real problem: a great division. If we want to come together as a nation, then both sides need to acknowledge a few things.
On the left we have to admit that our own leadership quelled our voices and are now paying the ultimate price for it. Whether or not you supported Senator Sanders, he was most certainly a momentous voice for change that spoke to the people - one who addressed the same aches and pains that those who rallied behind Trump felt, but with regard for the plurality of our nation coupled with revolutionary ideas to put the everyday American first above the private interests of the elite. Sound familiar? Sounds like our President Elect, and it could have been the Bern if the DNC did not conspire against him and disenfranchise one of the most energetic political movements in modern history.
We also have to admit that leaders on the left contributed to the rift that is now a gaping schism filled with boiling magma. They had their own brand of fear mongering - labeling Trump supporters "deplorable," and in part building their campaign as anti-Trump instead of pro-America, pro-Progress, and pro-Peace made reconciliation near impossible.
On the right, there needs to be a rejection of the bigotry and hatred that the Trump campaign embedded into their brand. I know that his racist sentiments are not necessarily the outlook of his supporters but let's be real here folks - the reason why Trump's victory hurts so many of us is because he built his campaign at our expense. The fact that he was elected despite his sentiments towards Muslims, Latinos, Women, African and LGBT Americans has a lot of us feeling insignificant, despised, and deeply damaged. We want to believe we have a place in America, we want to belong and contribute our rich colors to this beautiful fabric but to be brutally honest, Trump's victory has many of us feeling like the majority of Americans don't give a shit about us.
Now, I know that's not true. I know that many of those who backed Trump backed him up as a challenge to our system in the hopes of achieving something new, different, and ultimately good. To them I have this to say: as a Muslim-American, and a victim of Trump's hurtful rhetoric, I am willing to get behind him as our President, assuming he is willing to work toward healing these proverbial wounds. This is democracy, the will of the people has spoken, and we have to accept that this is the course that our countrymen have deemed best to follow. I will work with you to make our country better. Not "great again," but better.
However, in order for this to work out we need you to do our country an incredibly important favor. We need you, both in public and in your private circles, to downright reject the hateful sentiments that his campaign brought about. Let's not tiptoe around this issue. He capitalized on irrational fears, gave a platform to harmful stereotypes, misogyny, bigotry just to stir up passions and rake in the vote. It worked for him, but the repercussions of his rhetoric will not die out anytime soon. The amount of pain his campaign has caused minority communities is vast and no amount of outreach from minorities will solve this - only you can fix it.
I firmly believe we can work together. I know I don't speak for everyone, but I am certainly willing to extend my hand to you and work to find common ground if you are willing to help us heal from the deep damage this campaign has done. You may celebrate your victory, but others are left broken in disbelief that notions like banning and ID-ing Muslims, grabbing women by the pussy, building a wall to keep immigrants out, and so on, has been given tacit approval by the American people.
Our country was built on principles of freedom, diversity, and acceptance. We may not look like you, love like you, pray like you, or even speak the same language but I'm sure you will find that if you show us respect and acceptance, we will be more than happy to work with you towards a better future, and toward a better America. We are stronger together, and we will keep this country great.