"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection." - MLK, 1963
If I had a dollar for every time I asked myself if today was a reality, I wouldn’t need Penn. Seriously, I wouldn’t. Truly, I am in complete disbelief that America could push a man into office that has openly bragged of sexually assaulting women. Who has called Mexicans rapists, thugs, and criminals. Who has proposed a national ban on Muslims. Who has mocked a disabled reporter. Who utilized the Orlando Massacre of our LGBTQ community to boost his own agenda and self-righteousness. Who calls for national stop and frisk. Who has violated trade embargo with Cuba. Who was sued over Trump U fraud. Who flat out hasn’t paid taxes for 20 years. Who has called for more extreme forms of torture to be used. Who has said women should be punished for having abortions. Who has openly threatened freedom of the press. Who literally has called global warming a Chinese hoax. Who praised Putin and Kim Jong Un's strong leadership. Who has openly admitted to not paying his employees during presidential debates. Who called Obama an illegitimate noncitizen from Kenya hundreds of times over 7 years. Who used campaign donations to fund his own businesses and buildings. Who openly stated that laziness is an inherent trait in black people. Who has openly employed a campaign manager involved in illegal corruption with Russia. Who has called for ban of an entire religion from entering US. Who has lied about support for Iraq War over and over in debate. Who has been penalized for racial housing discrimination. Who has filed for bankruptcy over 6 times. Who questions judge's integrity and intellectualism because of their parent's heritage. Who, ironically, deleted emails involved in his Trump casino scandal. Who committed insurance fraud after the Florida hurricane. Who HAS dozens of assault victims and witnesses come forward with allegations of sexual abuse. Who attacked former Ms. America for being overweight. Who called for US citizens to be sent to Gitmo.
I ask that you re-read that paragraph out loud. And if you feel tired of “reading” about his explicit disqualifications, to imagine the lives of those who have had to and will have to “experience” his explicit racism, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, elitism, and twisted take on nationalism. We speak so much of the significance of Barack Obama, but what is the value of our first black president when his successor refused to disavow the KKK? Oddly, at a the Ivy League Institution of my dreams, I feel restricted and temporary. I have truly never felt so down. Its as if what I am doing to break apart the yoke of social oppression from where I am is simply not enough. This is Donald Trump. Not Jeb Bush, not Marco Rubio, not John Kasich… but Donald Trump. And he isn’t the full problem here. It is the police unions across America that refused to disavow his statements. It’s the National Rifle Association, who dismissed the violently racist rhetoric at their rallies as political emotion and disagreement. The men who felt that having a “wife, mother, and daughter” was the primary reason to be angered over Trump’s sexual assault, (all in all to vote for him.) Or the friends I have who laugh with me in one breathe, yet sponsor an openly racist man in the other. My professors who have overstepped Trump’s racism, xenophobia, and sexism through jokes in lecture. The professors I had who refused to change the due date of my assignments on such an intimidating day.
For me, I am starting where I’m at. For the thousandth time this year, I thought of my own well-being as a black man in this country more than my homework. I usually pull things together set aside my blackness and identity to keep up with this university, but today was just different. I cried with friends whom I never knew were emotional. I trapped myself in a safe space. I called my sisters and parents. I talked the weight off of my chest out. I surrounded myself with love because this country refuses to. This election is personal to me, and therefore it should be personal to you. There’s a reason why you didn’t see some of the people you normally see in routine today. Reach out. Care about your friends. Listen more than you speak. When I was asked “How are you?’ today, it stepped outside of the bounds of small talk. I encourage you to extend love to your Muslim friends, the women in your life, those who identify as undocumented, you're African American friends, the LGBTQ community, the Latinx community, your disabled classmates, those who identify as low-income, and every single intersection in-between by doing the same. Because for many, today isn’t about partisanship, it is about fear and hopelessness.
As much as I am in mourning, I am active. I refuse to let my country take steps backwards, I refuse to act as if this presidential election is normal, and most of all, I refuse to let the divisiveness in this country that has plagued his campaign, plague my campus. I ask that as a University we accept that we deserve to “not be okay” for the next few days. That we embrace each other with hope and love, rather than fear and hate. That we ask those who work in our dining halls, who clean our bathrooms, who ask you for a dollar every other day if they need a hug. That you take a second and simply try to grasp empathy and compassion for once in your life. That as the University that played a role in the rise Trump we make it clear that we do not tolerate his bigotry and divisiveness. We have so much work to do, but I know that it isn’t more than what we can bear. We can all be comfortable, we can all be loved, and we can all be at home. Let’s start here by empower a community that already needs so much work. Ase.
