It’s been almost a full week since Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, and across the country, hundreds of thousands of disillusioned Americans are marching in protest of the President-elect, while hate crimes occur at a greater rate than they did in the time following 9/11.
Strong convictions of separatism — brought to a boil by certain politicians — in the wake of numerous other events have left the entire nation wondering where to go from here.
The moderate Republican masses that Clinton was unable to win from Trump have already alleviated most of their guilt after Trump largely reeled back his promises to forcibly remove 11 million undocumented immigrants, build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and ban Muslims from entering the country.
Many believe Trump exaggerated in one of the most extreme instances of pandering to obtain the presidency. Regardless of his authenticity, the problem remains that the masses now feel entitled to what Trump promised and feel justified in their racism, homophobia and misogyny.
Insanul Ahmed, the senior editor of music website Genius, collected dozens of examples in a Twitter moment titled “Day 1 in Trump’s America.” The tweets vary from pictures of racist comments written on cars to videos of schoolchildren chanting “build that wall” to screencaps of Facebook posts recounting assaults against Muslim women wearing hijabs.
People who now preach working with the President-elect, despite speaking against him previously, do so because they can afford to. They won’t be affected the way millions of women, LGBTQ community members, people of color, and disabled individuals will be. Don’t worry, this is not why I’m writing.
I have no idea where we go from here. Students and activists are protesting. Established Democrats promise to fight for gridlock in the Senate, Republicans and business elites are already ensuring Trump is looking out for their best interests and the white working class is celebrating what it views as a win.
In a fascinating Huffington Post article, Tobias Stone wrote in July that Trump is another leg in the build up of our world’s tendencies toward self-destruction. Stone points to history to prove that humanity is self-destructive, and it happens in cyclical patterns we often do not identify until it is too late.
Each time, humans are left with one choice: to survive. The most resilient remain, whether by their own inhibition or some mix of biology and luck.
Whether this is the beginning of a period as dark as a world war or just another surprise from Trump in which he actually does a good job as president remains to be seen.
Yet calls for unity and peace from those sitting in the middle are futile. When both sides are this openly venomous to each other, more than a feel-good message is needed to mend the divide between millions who all fear for their future well-being.
Ryan Thaxton is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Monroe, Louisiana.