The greatest lie Donald Trump told this entire campaign was telling white people they were the “silent majority.”
If you think Trump is going to represent your interests in Washington, D.C., you are sadly mistaken. This man has proven time and time again he is looking out for himself first and foremost. This is not a taking-down-the-establishment movement. It was and is a movement predicated on race and gender.
Congratulations, though, first-time white male voters who voted Trump. You’ll be able to feel slightly safer when using racial and homophobic slurs in jest or as insults. Screw political correctness, am I right?
For those who wish to complain that I am fabricating these concerns, allow me to persuade you otherwise.
I come from a rural area that supported Trump by a 40-point margin. I know young, white, male voters too young to sustain themselves who voted Trump in their first election. I know wealthy white fathers who voted Trump, and I know people working as electricians and firefighters who voted Trump. None of their reasoning is acceptable.
The young white Trump voters I know say they don’t like Hillary Clinton because of her email scandal or because she’s a liar, yet couldn’t tell you where in the world Benghazi is. Their view is that all Muslims are terrorists. They think people of color are thugs or lazy, unemployed citizens, yet they lap up hip-hop and African-American culture as memes and petty entertainment.
The wealthy white men I know who voted Trump said they didn’t like him but they cared too much about their money being taxed to vote for anyone else. This reasoning is somehow worse.
I come from a place where it’s ingrained in young boys that it is perfectly acceptable to call girls “bitch” if they don’t acquiesce to their wishes and call them “slut” once they do. These are the people in my life who voted Trump.
Where I grew up is not the only place of its kind. I know we didn’t have great options on either side this election, but the part your friends are scared about is how this candidate’s election validated so many negative portrayals of so many different types of people.
For the working class people who truly aren’t racist and sexist, I’m sorry you feel your voices haven’t been heard, but you were not the only ones voting for Trump. Sadly, Trump’s election didn’t validate your plight as much as it did those who voted for him who aren’t living the same lifestyle as you.
A movement for freedom and truth did not get Trump elected. A fear of losing white privilege and the fear of a woman in power did.
So, where do we go from here? Well, if you voted Trump and truly are for a free and open America, you’ll show it by supporting those who feel victimized and marginalized by his campaign and victory. Getting involved with Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or Planned Parenthood is a good start. Try asking how they feel instead of telling them they don’t need to be scared. I, for one, know I would’ve gladly listened to anyone who somehow felt this way had Hillary been elected.
I hope more than anything that Trump proves us wrong. I would love that. If he can truly help all Americans, and I do mean all, then I would be happy to concede, but even that does not alter the reality of why Trump got elected. That’s where we let down our fellow Americans.
