These last four months have been filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and fears for many marginalized communities. Since election season has come to an end and we now wait for the presidential inauguration of Donald J. Trump, some people in these marginalized communities fear losing reproductive rights, birthright citizenship, and enduring economic struggles.
As a woman of color, and a daughter of immigrants, I too share these same fears. Fear for my sisters and friends losing control over their own bodies and fear of those in my community losing their families with the possibility of them being sent off to detention centers.
I’ve had these fears since I was a young girl and yet they continue to be such a persistent issue, I now realize it seems to be the root cause of my anxiety. I don’t understand how our government has made little to no progress on the resolution or conclusion of these issues.
Although I am proud of being an American, I am not proud of how our politics are becoming a joke to other countries, making a mockery of us by using our own rhetoric. We are a joke, and to me it only seems to be getting worse, especially with the incoming of our new president-elect.
Upon hearing the election results, students and graduates were surprised to learn that Trump not only won the most electoral votes but also the most popular votes in the country. As the tears began flowing, the fear of what was on the horizon was soon felt by the many who didn’t vote for him this year.
Student reactions
“I am hurt by the results. As a woman of color, who is undocumented and comes from a family who are immigrants it hurts to see how our voices can’t ever be heard. I don’t think people will fully understand what it is to live life in fear until it happens to you or someone you love,” said Zahida Gomez, a Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) student majoring in accounting.
“Seeing our rights get taken away not only as a person of color but as a woman, it’s really sad how we can never win no matter how hard we fight,” Gomez finished.
Dara Zwemer, a University of Utah graduate student majoring in cognition and neural psychology, said: “I feel horrified for the people I love, whose rights and ability to thrive on a livable planet are now threatened. But I also feel determined to keep living and supporting my local community alongside all these feelings of mourning, as that is how we can resist right now,”
Alex Flores, an SLCC and Utah State University alumni, and a graduate of sociology, said: “Waking up Wednesday morning [after Election Day] was a very heavy feeling. Class, gender, and race are very largely intertwined in this country, so there will be a certain majority who will vote against their own interests to further their wealth or ideology. I went to sleep knowing this country has a long history of prioritizing the rich and ensuring their well-being is taken care of at any cost. As a queer woman of color, I feel extremely disheartened by the results, but I am not surprised. This election has been a reminder to me and my immediate community that organizing is the way. I have never believed in ‘change from the inside,’ so I would be lying to say I had much faith in either candidate.”
Flores continued, stating: “Furthermore, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that the uncertainty of what is to come under Trump isn’t scary, but we cannot let fear stop us from finding community and finding our power in numbers. Liberation is at our fingertips; we must find our strength in each other. Power to the people!”
Based on some of the statements heard during his campaign, Trump has by far the most concerning viewpoints on topics about immigration, abortion, and climate change. Whether or not his viewpoints will be put into action during his presidency is still of concern to me.
Trump’s bogus claims
During the Republican National Convention (RNC) earlier this year on July 18, Trump discussed the topic of immigration. As stated on NPR, Trump said: “They’re coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails, they’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums.”
This claim was fact-checked by PBS, with their article stating: “The term ‘noncitizens’ includes people who may have legal immigration status in the U.S., but are not U.S. citizens. The data reflects the people that the federal government knows about but it’s inexhaustive. Immigration experts said despite those data limitations, there is no evidence to support Trump’s statement.”
Branding a whole group of people as criminals, and insinuating that they are mentally unwell, is completely intolerable, and quite ignorant to allow your following to believe and create the idea that this is how all immigrants are.
Putting aside his comments on immigration and speaking on the economy, during his RNC speech, Trump stated: “During my presidency, we had the best economy in the history of our country, in the history of the world … We had no inflation, soaring incomes.”
To debunk this claim, PBS stated: “One of the strongest ways to assess the economy is the unemployment rate, which fell during Trump’s presidency to levels untouched in five decades. But his successor, Joe Biden, matched or exceeded those levels.”
These were only some of the former president’s bogus claims, and without the proper research I fear some people will just believe anything they hear.
Personally, as a woman, I feel betrayed, and fearful of what’s to come in the coming years. Our politics are making a mockery of our patriotism and devotion to our country. America used to be the land of the free and home of the brave. I fear I say this in the past tense because we are no longer either or.
