Yesterday was really hard. I thought I would be waking up to the first female president. Instead when I woke up, a man who stands for the exact opposite of everything I stand for had won the electoral votes.
As a Christian who votes on more issues than just abortion and gay marriage (because those aren’t the only issues the Bible speaks about), this election seemed so obvious to me. Of course I was not going to vote for the man running on a platform that goes against my morals. Of course I was not going to vote for a man who bashes minority groups and has the audacity to intimidate women on the basis of their outward appearance. It just wouldn’t make sense to me! I am an America-Indian woman. My entire life, I have had to hold back tears when ignorant people make racist remarks, stay calm when TSA pulls me aside before flights, and walk with my head up when men give me looks that make me nauseous.
Instead of voting for a man who makes me feel small, I voted for Hillary Clinton in the general election. I didn’t vote for her in the primaries, and I don’t agree with everything she represents. However, Sec. Clinton did not seem to speak hate and intolerance but instead built a platform on equality and decency. I voted for her because of her stance on issues such as education, welfare, immigration, refugee status, and health care. None of these issues directly affect me – I am 23 years old, in a year and a half I will be graduating from law school, I don’t have children to send to school, I have health insurance, my parents have become citizens since immigrating, and I am a citizen. But these issues are important to me because of the stuff I learned growing up in church.
Yes, that’s right, church. These aren’t issues I value because of my “libtard” friends. I value them because of verses like, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners…” (Deuteronomy 10:18-19) and, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11). I value these issues because I recognize the importance of empathy and compassion.
To me, Donald Trump stands for hatred and bigotry, and it is hard for me to understand why anyone would ever vote for him. Yesterday, I met a man in Michigan who voted for Trump on Tuesday. We had an actual conversation. I explained to him why I was afraid, and he explained to me why he voted for Trump (his issue is with the economy and how his tax money is being spent). He felt my sadness, and told me this was one of the first real conversations he has had with someone who voted for Sec. Clinton. I felt his discontentment with the government and the political corruption he sees. He explained how he didn’t like Obama’s presidency. I explained how my fear is not so much with Trump’s presidency as it is with Trump’s supporters that speak hate and violence. At one point in the conversation, I asked him, “Sir, I really want to be able to respect Trump and relate to him in some way. Can you tell me one thing that Trump stands for that represents the interests of me or my family?” And he couldn’t answer that question, and he asked me to wait, and see how Trump behaves as president. At the end of the conversation, we hugged, and I cried. I know I need more of these conversations.
So that is where I am at now. I am sad, but I want to be able to understand. I am sad for my minority friends, my non-Christian friends, my LGBT friends, my female friends. I am also sad for my white, heterosexual male Christian friends, because I understand that many of them don’t like the results of this election either. I don’t want to feel like I don’t belong in America. I don’t want be on the defense about my ethnicity. I want to be able to understand.