The results of the presidential election Nov. 8 showed a complete lack of respect towards all marginalized Americans, which includes millions of African Americans, Latinx Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans and Muslim Americans. I — an African American myself — have had people attempt to explain their reasons on why they voted for Trump, but in all honesty, there is no justifying it for me. During his campaign, there were not only instances of hate groups, such as the KKK, endorsing Trump directly — and it took him several weeks to disavow the endorsement — but also of Trump being racist himself. When Mexican-American judge Gonzalo Curiel was assigned to the case involving Trump University, Trump claimed that because he was Mexican, he could not handle the case. If you did not know, or if you are still confused about this story: claiming someone cannot do their job because of their race is the very definition of prejudice and racism.
The justice department has sued Trump twice for refusing to rent to African American people by claiming that apartments were not available. In fact, it seems that Trump tends to have a history of discriminating against African Americans; when he owned his casino — and what a successful business endeavor that was — he was fined $200,000 dollars because managers would remove African American dealers from the floor and place them in the back whenever he and Ivana visited, according to an ex-Trump employee. In addition, according to the former COO of Trump Plaza, John O’Donnell,Trump has claimed that laziness is a trait in African Americans. Again, if you are confused, claiming that an entire race possesses a negative trait is racist.
Though, if you have been following his campaign, this is not surprising. He degraded women in an audio recording from 2005, in which he talked about women in an extremely predatory way. Most people have only heard the “when you’re a star, they let you do anything” clip, but watching the whole video will give an even better idea of the true Trump — a racist sexual predator. He has also continually failed to disavow supporters that committed acts of violence against Latinx Americans and protesters at his rallies; at a press conference in August, he claimed that his supporters are simply “passionate” and that they are only trying to “make America great again.”
People refer to Hillary’s email scandal as jeopardizing the safety of the United States, but what do you do when the President-elect, during his campaign, calls for the Russian government to hack the United States to find those emails carrying supposedly classified information? Then again, that is not relevant, right? Trump is going to make our economy better! He has not been going bankrupt since the 90’s, but even if he did that would be a “smart” move to avoid paying taxes!
Trump is a terrible businessman and a terrible person. So, when I ask what you voted for, you can’t rightfully tell me that you voted for just the businessman. No, whether or not you realized it, you voted for acceptance of white supremacy and fear for all marginalized Americans. After Trump’s election, white supremacists across America not only felt safe, but also proud, to vandalize the streets of many cities with racial slurs and other hateful, disgusting phrases. This is what you voted for. You voted for a feeling of acceptance for racists — and all those who hate — and the resulting fear among marginalized Americans.