I have never been more ashamed of this country. To put it lightly, it’s never a good sign when a gleeful Rudy Giuliani gets on MSNBC and, searching for a historical precedent, laughs and says that Trump is the next Andrew Jackson.
As I see so many of my friends declaring this election outcome a resounding victory for racism, sexism, homophobia etc., I hope instead that this election is a wakeup call that millions of Americans do not feel represented by the Washington establishment and feel they have no voice in the corridors of power.
Yesterday, at 3:00 p.m., I left campus to fulfill my civic duty. I returned to my middle school, in what most would consider as an affluent suburb of Philadelphia, one that is predominantly white, to vote for who I expected to be the first female President.
I am going to be honest—I did not do enough this election. I left the voter registration efforts, GOTV efforts, canvassing efforts, and so much more to my peers who I perceive as being more "politically active" and "into politics" than I am.
I will not make this mistake again.
"Democracy is not a spectator sport" is a quote that has been tossed around often this election cycle.
Picture a family of three—a young–ish married couple and a four–month–old baby—sitting at an immigration office in Greece, all three with olive skin and varying degrees of curly hair.
On July 29, 2016, I came into work and planned to procrastinate in the morning by watching some of the speeches from the last day of the Democratic National Convention the night before.
What upsets me most about this election is this: Trump’s victory is obviously shocking, and he won due to a crazy-high turnout from uneducated, low class voters throughout the country.
I am so proud to be an American. We live in a democracy that allows us freedom of speech, the ability to vote, makes it lawful that we can love who we want to love, that we can be black or white or hispanic or asian or indian or any other multitude of ethnicities-- and under law, we are equal.