By: James Coffey

He has called Mexicans rapists, and threatened to deport them. He has promised closing our borders both physically, with a wall, and ideologically, with a ban on refugees. He has labeled Muslims terrorists. He has spoken out harshly against the LGBT community and mocked the disabilities of those with special needs. He has objectified women, been accused of sexually assaulting twelve women, and been caught bragging about grabbing women by the genitals. He has demonized and labeled his opponents, buddied up to Russia, and threatened to commit war crimes. He has bashed the media and polling centers for rigging the election against him. He has personified Hillary Clinton as an untruthful elitist, yet according to an ABC fact check of the entire election, his statements are lies about 70% of the time (compared to Clinton’s 26%). He claims to be a business man, yet has driven numerous businesses into bankruptcy, and faces an upcoming trial about his failed scam called Trump University. He said that he would date his daughter if he wasn’t related to her. He hasn’t released his tax returns and bragged about not paying taxes. He even received less votes than his opponent on November 8. His name is Donald Trump. He is our president-elect.

As deeply disappointed as I was (and still am) in the results of the election, my first thought was that as Americans we just need to move on. We need to accept that Donald Trump won, and he won fairly. We need to uphold the values of our Democracy.

My perspective changed quickly on the first day after the election when I came into class to find a classmate of mine crying so badly she needed to leave the room. I realized that as a straight, white, educated male who lives in a rather well-off suburbia in Massachusetts, Donald Trump’s ideals as president don’t have a huge bearing on me directly. While I disagree with nearly every piece of garbage that flies from his mouth, it is easy for me to accept the results of the election and proceed with life.

The same cannot be said for this classmate of mine. She is a female, and an immigrant from a Middle Eastern heritage.  She has family and friends outside of the country who are not provided anywhere close to the number of privileges we have. When I saw her eyes, I didn’t just see tears. I saw fear. Genuine fear. And I know that she is far from the only one. Trump’s entire “revolution” has been built around creating fear in Americans. My social media feeds have been exploding with members of the black, hispanic, female, LGBT, and Muslim communities who are in complete shock, and complete and utter fear.

This is not okay.

We cannot be a country defined by the fear created by our leader, and we will not lose the identity of our Republic because an outlandish TV personality decided to run for president. We have come too far in the past 240 years to let Donald Trump, of all people, ruin our country’s values.

And by no means am I saying that he will. I am usually optimistic for the future, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Trump has just been putting on an act throughout the last 512 days of his campaign. I am hoping that he found the message of “Make America Great Again” that he knew would reel in the uneducated males of America; yet, he still wants to help create the country he described in his victory speech. He sounded like he wanted to reconcile the wounds he created for so many Americans, but just like the rest of his campaign, can we trust anything that he has claimed?

I sincerely hope, for the good of our country, that Donald Trump proves me wrong. But at this point, I see that as a long shot.

Mr. Trump, you have created an unprecedented amount of division, hatred, and pure fear in our country. Now it’s your turn to bring us together.