It is not that I fear Trump will truly be able to build a wall, or that he will go through with his Muslim ban, or that he will start nuclear war; it is the sentiment -- the new and yet not at all new incitement of America, the sadness and fear minorities must carry in the streets, the power that those who already had power now increasingly feel, as they have been reinforced -- that I am afraid of.
It is the neo-Nazi graffiti on the walls, the black dolls hanged on nooses, the "you're going to be deported!" shouts, the widespread hatred and trivialization or normalization of hatred that Americans should not give; it is the religious mothers telling their daughters to take off their hijabs, the Latinx families afraid of being ripped apart by the high costs of naturalization, the general worry that Americans should not have to take. Half of America's empowerment is another half's marginalization.
If you feel a Trump presidency is not a big deal, that it will not affect us, it is because it will not affect you. It is because you have the ability to feel that way. I do not ask you to protest, to cry, to even discuss, but please -- recognize. Feel for others. Know a view outside your own. Know that your situation is not all situations.
Know, if you do not know, what it is like to wonder what your future may hold. And I don't mean for the next four years. I mean for the rest of the day. Will you see a hate message in the elevator of your school? Will someone feel empowered enough to shout or jeer or glare or even stare at you on the subway today for your skin color? Will your parents tell you that conversion therapy "may be what you need"? If these are not the questions you have to think about, I am truly glad for you. I feel no bitterness toward you. I simply ask that you recognize these questions are in our minds. These questions are America's questions.
These problems are America's problems.