Now that they have won, conservatives are starting to tell people they need to come together “for the country,” “for unity,” and respect the office of President, no matter who won.
I have something to say to those people, and I want to say it publicly:
NO.
I don't have to respect this president-elect or what he stands for, or "come together" for country unity. Many conservatives have spent the last 8 years talking smack about how terrible Obama is, claiming he isn't "their" president, trying to claim he isn't American or Christian enough, or fit to run our nation, trying to say he wasn't born here, claiming racism doesn't exist because we have a black president they loudly hated.
NO.
I do NOT have to respect a racist, lying, intolerant, misogynistic, criminal bully. I have to accept the fact that he won, but I do not have to respect him or his views, his policies, or the way he insults and disrespects publicly anyone who doesn't agree with him, the way he has continually incited violence against the media and the dissenters at his rallies.
You don't get to tell me I "have" to come together and support this president after the last 8 years of trying to discredit our current one. Where was your precious unity then?
I hope there is some sort of mental and physical evaluation before taking office. His father had Alzheimer's and many of Trump's inner circle have come forward claiming he is mentally ill. Does narcissism count?
I have had some people on my friends list come after me, being told “You sound like a child who didn’t get their way” and trying to call me out for saying they don’t care about women, the LGBTQ community, black people, latinos, and more, simply because their vote says otherwise. When a candidate who has loudly stated multiple times that they don’t respect women, that all black people are in the inner cities, that same sex marriage is against his values, that a latino judge can’t do his job because of his nationality, that says a lot to me.
I have also had the incredible beauty of people coming to me and telling me that I’m brave for putting my opinions out there in the face of the opposition. I’m not brave. I’m just a girl who doesn’t respect and won’t cow to someone who tries to tell me how to feel or who to care about. America is supposed to be the great melting pot, the country full of people chasing a new dream.
If I can use my admittedly small platform that I stand on, if anyone who reads this changes their mind, starts a conversation, really thinks about tolerance and what that means, then I will be happy.
In the meantime, I am planning to dig in and endure the next 4 years. I will mobilize and become more politically active, I will continue to put my money where my mouth is, supporting the causes and people I believe in, and I will not back down. In a country that professes to honor free thought and the differences in people, that is not what we are seeing today.