November 9th, 2016
This letter, is addressed to all those whom might be persuaded to read it in the wake of this unprecedented election cycle. I am not a professional writer, so I apologize early on for any gramatical mistakes found here. This will likely not be edited or even proofread very likely this letter will be lost in all the chaos and confusion surrounding the weeks or months to come. But I feel as if I need to get this off of my chest if I am going to be able to sleep at night for the next four years, not dissect it for 'perfection'.
I am an American citizen, one whom cannot vote, and as such did not vote in this election cycle.
But despite my inability to vote, I have never once felt orchestrated, alienated, or left out of the process.
That has changed.
I wake up Wednesday morning feeling more betrayed by my fellow American Citizens for the first time in my life all at the end of this Election cycle.
It has become apparent, that Donald Trump has been lifted up to the seat of the presidency, the most important, most powerful seat of power in the world, by the collective will of millions of voters. Voters whom have been described in various places as either ‘angry, disenfranchised, voiceless and exasperated’ with the status quo.
But one particular description has soundly stood out in the aftermath.
White Male.
It is being said now, as Kellyanne Conway predicted earlier in the race, that there indeed was a ‘secret trump voter’. Namely a college educated white male whom knew enough about decorum, and polite society to say that he would vote for Hillary, but was in fact voting for Trump, and it was this voter, above all others, that skewed the polls so vastly in Clinton’s favor, and delivered onto trump his upset win that baffled and surprised so many in the country and around the world.
In record numbers, the white male, rural population of the United States surged forward like a wave and decided to make their voices heard in a collective cry that demanded one thing above all else, change.
Whether that be change looking forward with progressive ideas that would rattle the establishment which has become so stagnated, or change looking backwards with nostalgia, the desire for a change was unanimous.
But, that cry, that demand, has shouted down and drowned out all others around it, even though their voices are fewer, as we can see from the results of the popular vote. And now, it is these same people, whom, by voting in a Republican president, and given the Republican party both the senate, and the house majority, have pushed onto others, the majority of the country even, that same feeling of disenfranchisement, and silence that they themselves cried as unjust in the not so distant past.
Now this presidential campaign has… surfaced, a side of America that was foolishly believed to be extinguished, or at the very least significantly diminished. That side is the racist, hateful, xenophobic vein of feeling that still runs through this country like a disease that has come out of remission.
This letter isn’t for those people. The ones who *feel* that way, who feel those things. Those people have too much hate in their heart, too much intolerance, fear, insecurity and close minded belief that they can’t be swayed. Not by me or anyone.
This letter is addressed to the others. The ones who knew displaying their support for Trump was unacceptable in polite society, but supported him anyway.
You couldn’t voice your support for him in public, so did it privately.
Well, now that he’s won, I’d like for that to change. And for you to tell us all. To answer the simple question:
“Why?”
Not to me of course. I'm not important. But to others, those around you. The people you claim to love or at least have a fondness towards.
Speak to those whom are African American, tell them why you thought you were showing your love to them, by voting for a man whom was sued for housing discrimination against blacks. For a man who threw out a ‘protester’ whom was infact, a trump supporter, after taking one look at him, and seeing that he was African American.
Speak to those whom are Latino, tell them why you believed it was acceptable for you to support a man who painted all Mexicans with the same brush stroke, calling them all ‘Rapists and criminals’. A man who swore to deport eleven million of them, their families, deny their children American citizenship and rights even if they fit the constitutional criteria of being born on American soil.
Speak to your girlfriends, your wives, your daughters, or mothers. Speak to all of them, and tell them why you believed it was a good and just thing, to support a man whom bragged about grabbing women by their genitals. Whom called other women pigs, and slobs, who graded their appearance on a number who may be guilty of sexual assault.
In short, speak and tell them why your generation, your collective voice decided to scream out a message to all these groups of people you might know personally, that you may profess to love “This is acceptable- This is what I am willing to stand for.”
Tell them why is it that your generation has decided to walk back at best, or outright repudiate at worst, the last twenty or thirty years of progress? The slow, steady march of a cultural awakening that said ‘Racism isn’t acceptable’ that women are not ‘Things’ to be graded on a scale of one to ten or ‘grabbed’ without their consent.
Tell them why is it that you’ve decided these things are acceptable.
Is it because they don’t threaten you? Because they don’t affect you? Because you have no experience with these things? Because you think they don’t exist? That they were overblown by the Media?
Whatever the answer, within your own conscience and your heart, I pray the answer is more significant than the proverbial tossing of a temper tantrum against the establishment as some have equated it to.
Because if it’s not; if that is the extent of your answer. Then you have effectively stated to your friends, your family, and loved ones who were appalled by this man:
“You do not matter more than my anger.”
As I said. I am an American Citizen. And never have I felt more orchestrated or betrayed by my fellow citizens.
That, more than anything else, is rapidly being marked, as the legacy of this election. Of this message that has been sent.
Your voice has been heard by more than the establishment. It’s been heard by those around you you claimed to love, and it has been received with feelings of hurt and betrayal, by at least *one* person in this country whom could not speak at this very important election, whom could not say, where you wouldn’t; that Donald trump’s message was not acceptable.
The next part of my message, is to Donald Trump himself.
In your acceptance speech Mr. Trump you called for unity. You presented a message that you wished to ‘heal’ the rifts and the divide that now exists within our country. You saluted Secretary Clinton for her service, for the hard fought race she gave, stated that we owe her a debt of gratitude for all that she’s done. That you will be a President for all the people of the United States, not just the ones that supported you.
Sadly, this speech, you read from a teleprompter. These were not your words. These did not come from your heart, they came from someone paid to help you 'seem presidential' and 'gracious' in your winning hour.
Nevertheless, I pray to any higher power that will listen… that you will not treat these words as you’ve treated all the other words you’ve uttered on the campaign. That these words will hold weight, meaning and significance in your heart now that this burden has been placed on your shoulders (and indeed it is a burden) That you do indeed look to heal and unify this country in a way that promotes peace, tolerance and love for a fellow neighbor.
I will not lie. I sit here in a room with tears in my eyes because I am terrified of the prospect of your leadership. You have been aggressive, encouraged your followers to harass the media, or act aggressively against protesters. You have been unprepared in your debates, careless in your rhetoric, you have appeared almost deranged in the level and degrees of false statements and outright lies you've given and have threatened the bedrock of our democracy by refusing to acknowledge the results of the election outright, instead stating “We’re going to have to see.” The most un-american, most unpatriotic thing I’ve ever heard in my relatively short life on earth.
But if you can do what you stated you wished to do in your victory speech, heal the divide that has split this country in half in a way we haven't seen since the segregation era; If you can just do that, I will state that you have been a successful president of the United States.
You are a President with no particular partizan history or loyalty. You have had your disagreements with both the republican establishment and the democrats. As such, if you are sincere in this wish, you are uniquely capable of carrying it out, more than any other candidate. I hope you do not squander it, that your desire to be a successful president will push you to do the best you possibly can, indeed for both sides of the divide.
This will not be accomplished by being a rubber stamp to the Republican house and senate. Or them acting vice versa. This will be the work of a man who can fight for the rights of people on both sides of the aisle. Not just one.
If this doesn’t happen… then the fears of those who find themselves now, disenfranchised, alienated and voiceless… all those fears will come to fruition and we will be the ones that will begin to hate. And in the next election our voices will cry out.
And I do not want to live in an America, that is ruled by who hates the most on a certain year.
That is all I have to say. Thank you, to those whom have read this, for listening to my words, for what little they might mean
Sincerely:
A Voiceless Citizen.
