Dear America,

I’m 18 years old. I got to vote in this election. I was excited to cast my vote and make a difference. I spent hours researching everything on the ballot and making up my mind how to vote. Now, in general I support a difference of opinion.

This time it was different. Trump is different. This wasn’t Democrat versus Republican, it was a contest between a highly qualified woman who has devoted her life to this country and a man who is a fascist, sexist, racist, homophobe, makes fun of people with disabilities, and is a fear mongerer.

So, it came as quite a shock to me when I saw the results from Tuesday night’s election. When I saw that the New York Times has gone from saying Hillary had an 81 percent chance of winning to a less than 10 percent chance, I was in shock and disbelief. I almost laughed it was so bizarre. As more and more states were called, I kept my hope. Then Donald Trump was announced president of the United States.

Hate won. I guess I’m naive, and my perspective was clouded by my liberal state of California. I assumed Trump supporters were a vocal minority, yet somehow he is now the president. I’ve done quite a bit of crying in the last few hours. Every time I picture a Trump president I get overwhelmed and overcome with sadness and fear. Those who voted for him picture a “better America,” but I see that we will be taking bounds and leaps backwards. Politicians, and countless people dedicated their lives to serve equality, and Trump plans to undo it in his first day.

I see the global market crashing because of this upset. I see Central and South American families who have worked hard to get to a more prosperous country and contribute to American society being forced out by men with guns. I see women being ridiculed for their independence, having their freedom of choice taken away, and the fight against rape culture disappearing.

Every person who is not wealthy, white or a male will suffer and be affected by Trump’s presidency. I see children looking at their president and thinking it’s okay to disrespect women and treat people who aren’t like them as pariahs. I’m disappointed in my country. I had faith that all of us would work to uphold the values our country was founded upon, but instead we have elected someone who doesn’t even have basic knowledge the constitution.

I’m horrified at our system and “democracy.” It has failed. The electoral college failed us. States with no more than a few hundred vote difference between Clinton and Trump gave all of their votes to one candidate. I can’t comprehend why votes in some states are allowed to matter more than votes in others.

Most of all, I’m sad about the unawareness so many people in our country must face. They must be unaware that women have been fighting for hundreds of years in America to gain equality and respect as leaders. Hillary Clinton had a chance to fulfill a vision that the suffragettes like Susan B Anthony saw. She deserved to break the glass ceiling.

They must be unaware of the reasons for movements like the Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter. I can’t believe that they would have cast their vote for Trump if they had tried to understand the discrimination and hate people in America face because of their skin color. Those who voted for Trump were unable to think beyond their own privilege, and according to this week, that was the majority of the people in our country.

At first I did lose my sense of hope. I saw no road to healing and making this right. I still don’t really see it. However, I will work to create the country I want to live in, even with Trump as president. His victory means we must try harder, and fight with those who would see their lives destroyed by him. The earth will keep spinning and moving around the sun, and so we can’t stop either. There was a reason more than half the country cast their vote for Hillary Clinton. We can’t throw that away. If we give up, we let Trump conquer.

Sincerely,

A Very Disturbed Citizen