Worried for Family and Friends - An Outsider's Take on the US Presidential Election
My friend Kim recently got married to her girlfriend in the US. It was a lovely low key ceremony attended by family and friends from across the US. Her parents even travelled to Michigan from the Philippines to attend her wedding.
Kim was born and raised in the Philippines, was educated here until high school but went to college in the US. She met her now-wife Kory while teaching at university, and they got married a few weeks ago. But instead of enjoying these last few weeks with her wife, my friend has been tense about the upcoming US presidential elections.
I have been reading her Facebook updates since the voting polls opened and media outlets have started posting the results of the election. Her posts show just how worried she is about how things are going to turn out if Trump is elected into office. With the reports we have read and seen about Donald Trump, my cousin was worried about how, if elected, his policies would affect her marriage. Add the fact that she is an immigrant who got married to an American.
Donald Trump seems to hold a grudge against immigrants and a conservative view about same-sex marriage. And this worries Kim a lot.
Although I don't live in the US and have never been there, but I can honestly say that I dislike Donald Trump. I don't like the way he handles himself in public and social media (especially Twitter), and dislike the fact that most of his plans don't make sense. Sure, I think he is a brilliant salesman, pitching himself to people who are tired of the slumping economy as a savior. He made people see a man who is willing to make drastic changes in order to "make America great again." And those changes include ostracizing a great number of the American population, including honest, hardworking people whose only mistake is not be born in a country whose roots can be traced back to immigrants. Yes, America is a country made up of immigrants, and its people has just elected into office a man who is willing to go as far as banning immigrants from entering the country. He is even willing to build a wall between his country and Mexico, one of the largest suppliers of manpower to American businesses.
Based on the fact that Donald Trump just got elected into office, the United States right now seems to be a country filled with people who are willing to forget that their new president has advocated using his fame to take advantage of people, of women, of the law. The United States seems to be made of people who are afraid of female leaders, people who seem to think that women and their opinions don't matter. That women don't matter. That other races don't matter.
And his wife Melania? I don't think she is ever going to have a say in anything that Donald Trump does while in office. She doesn't seem to be a strong woman who has a mind of her own, unlike Michelle Obama. She would just be another trophy wife, albeit the most high profile trophy wife, of the soon to be most powerful man in the free world.
Women will not have much of a voice in the Trump administration, I bet my life on it. Sexism will abound and racism will get worse.
So I understand why Kim is worried. Most of her beliefs will be under scrutiny in an administration that advocates sexism and racism
And I'm worried, too. My mother and both of my sisters live in New York. They're all immigrants. I have family and friends throughout the United States, immigrants and non-immigrants alike. They're all Asian, none of them Caucasian. I am worried that life is going to be more difficult for them now that a bigot (there, I said it) has just been elected into office. I am worried that they might be targeted by racist attacks, and told to go home when they have lived most of their lives in the US. I am worried that their livelihood might be taken away from them simply because they don't look like "Americans". I am worried that they might receive harsh treatment from people simply because they speak and understand another language (although all of them speak English perfectly).
I am worried about the message that this election has sent and is sending to the younger generation, to the generation of impressionable people who might think that being sexist is fine as long as you are "famous" and "successful" and appear on national television. I am scared for men and women alike, all races, all religions.
I am worried, scared, sad. All I can do right now is pray for the US and the people who live there. Pray that nothing bad will happen to my family. Pray that everything will be alright. Pray.
Kim was born and raised in the Philippines, was educated here until high school but went to college in the US. She met her now-wife Kory while teaching at university, and they got married a few weeks ago. But instead of enjoying these last few weeks with her wife, my friend has been tense about the upcoming US presidential elections.
I have been reading her Facebook updates since the voting polls opened and media outlets have started posting the results of the election. Her posts show just how worried she is about how things are going to turn out if Trump is elected into office. With the reports we have read and seen about Donald Trump, my cousin was worried about how, if elected, his policies would affect her marriage. Add the fact that she is an immigrant who got married to an American.
Donald Trump seems to hold a grudge against immigrants and a conservative view about same-sex marriage. And this worries Kim a lot.
Although I don't live in the US and have never been there, but I can honestly say that I dislike Donald Trump. I don't like the way he handles himself in public and social media (especially Twitter), and dislike the fact that most of his plans don't make sense. Sure, I think he is a brilliant salesman, pitching himself to people who are tired of the slumping economy as a savior. He made people see a man who is willing to make drastic changes in order to "make America great again." And those changes include ostracizing a great number of the American population, including honest, hardworking people whose only mistake is not be born in a country whose roots can be traced back to immigrants. Yes, America is a country made up of immigrants, and its people has just elected into office a man who is willing to go as far as banning immigrants from entering the country. He is even willing to build a wall between his country and Mexico, one of the largest suppliers of manpower to American businesses.
Based on the fact that Donald Trump just got elected into office, the United States right now seems to be a country filled with people who are willing to forget that their new president has advocated using his fame to take advantage of people, of women, of the law. The United States seems to be made of people who are afraid of female leaders, people who seem to think that women and their opinions don't matter. That women don't matter. That other races don't matter.
And his wife Melania? I don't think she is ever going to have a say in anything that Donald Trump does while in office. She doesn't seem to be a strong woman who has a mind of her own, unlike Michelle Obama. She would just be another trophy wife, albeit the most high profile trophy wife, of the soon to be most powerful man in the free world.
Women will not have much of a voice in the Trump administration, I bet my life on it. Sexism will abound and racism will get worse.
So I understand why Kim is worried. Most of her beliefs will be under scrutiny in an administration that advocates sexism and racism
And I'm worried, too. My mother and both of my sisters live in New York. They're all immigrants. I have family and friends throughout the United States, immigrants and non-immigrants alike. They're all Asian, none of them Caucasian. I am worried that life is going to be more difficult for them now that a bigot (there, I said it) has just been elected into office. I am worried that they might be targeted by racist attacks, and told to go home when they have lived most of their lives in the US. I am worried that their livelihood might be taken away from them simply because they don't look like "Americans". I am worried that they might receive harsh treatment from people simply because they speak and understand another language (although all of them speak English perfectly).
I am worried about the message that this election has sent and is sending to the younger generation, to the generation of impressionable people who might think that being sexist is fine as long as you are "famous" and "successful" and appear on national television. I am scared for men and women alike, all races, all religions.
I am worried, scared, sad. All I can do right now is pray for the US and the people who live there. Pray that nothing bad will happen to my family. Pray that everything will be alright. Pray.
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