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 in any way. So I apologize in advance for the grammatical errors that might be apparent. I have not proofread it and do not intend to. 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.
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, up to this point in time, I have never felt orchestrated, or alienated in my own home.
That has changed. I woke up on November 9th feeling more betrayed by my fellow American Citizens than I have right now.
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 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, 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 that same feeling of disenfranchisement, and silence that they themselves cried as unjust in the not so distant past.
Now this 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 deep down into its core.
This letter isn’t for those people. Those people have too much hate in their heart, too much intolerance, fear, insecurity and close minded belief that 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 then. Well, now that he’s won, I’d like you to do so now. Answer the simple question:
“Why?”
Not to me of course. I am unimportant.
But to others, those around you. The people you claim to love.
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. Tell them why you believed it was a good and just thing, to support a man whom bragged about grabbing women by the pussy. Whom called other women pigs, and slobs, who graded their appearance on a number who may be guilty of sexual assault.
In short, speak to them; and explain to them *Why* has 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 stand for.”
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 said 'Women are not things’ to be graded on a scale of one to ten or ‘grabbed’ without their consent.
Why is it that you’ve decided these things are acceptable? 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?
Explain it to these whom you profess to love, who now feel betrayed by the results, of this election as I do. Who look around them now and feel alienated and 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 as some have equated it to. People like Mr. Moore who claimed it was your way to throw a ‘Molotov cocktail’ into the establishment you’ve grown to hate and resent so much.
And if the answer is not more significant than that. If your answer only extends to that then you go and you tell them that they are not important in your life. Because that's exactly what you said on election day. You effectively stated to your friends, your family. “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 -permanently marked- as the legacy of this election. Of this message that has been sent, by you, the American white rural voter...
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.
I hope the 'revolution' is worth it to you. I truly do, because if it's not, then all of it has truly been for nothing.
The next, and last 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.
This speech, you read from a teleprompter. These words were not yours. These did not come from your heart, they came from someone paid to help you.
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. 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 as I write this 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, 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 that, heal the divide; 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 healing the rifts, 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…, with no president, no senate, and no house to defend their words, all those fears will come to fruition and you will have created a new generation of people whom will feel as your supporters did before your election and the hatred, the anger, and the resentment will root in and fester until it scars and becomes a permanent fixture in our culture.
I do not wish to live in a world, that's governed by the group that hates the most in a given four years...
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.
