It’s almost been a week since Election Day and, during these past few days I have heard nothing but pessimistic thoughts and predictions about America’s future.

In Political Science, our professor told us that the electoral college was made to prevent candidates like Trump from taking the throne. He also told us about climate change- which still surprises me how there are still people that do not believe it exists or do not take it seriously- and how Trump plans to decrease funds in several projects. His presidency sounds like a balloon of poison waiting to burst. I initially thought that his presidency wouldn’t amount to much considering there was a system of checks and balances in the federal government but, even then he still has the potential to do so much damage.

To be frank, I don’t believe most people feel connected or involved in American government or its issues unless it directly affects their line of work. For all my years, I never felt relevant nor affected by whatever bill had been passed or the different laws between each state. But now it’s different; there is a pot of fear and anxiety boiling over in my stomach each time I hear of another intolerable behavior happening in a place like New York City- “a place like New York City,”  a place popular for its diversity, for its generally liberal stance on things- and now you got people punching the elderly for being a particular race or following a specific religion.

When we approached Election Day, the fact that one of our presidential candidates was Trump wasn’t what surprised me; it was the number of people at his rallies, the amount of hate crimes that spiked up because of his presence and empty speeches, it was the amount of videos posted online by people who got stopped and verbally (and sometimes physically) harassed by (often) a Trump supporter, it was the amount of blog posts that were written in lengths similar to that of sermon concerning evidence and reasons why you should not vote for Trump, it was the “Make America White Again” graffiti written with a swastika on a brick wall in the midst of the election.

It was a reminder that because we lived in a democracy, that people like members of the Ku Klux Klan had the right to assembly and to practice their beliefs. It was only (sort of) fine if they didn’t physically nor verbally harassed the other side but now with his presidency, people have become more outspoken about their prejudice. And now we have a president that supports that kind of behavior.

Joy.