For the last year and a half, we have watched Donald Trump redirect the Republican Party through the frame of fear-mongering. He established a routine of consistent bigotry; whether it be lewd comments about women, racist comments about Hispanic Americans, or dismissive comments about sexual and gender minorities, Donald Trump has made it clear that he is not only socially conservative, but socially regressive. Any ounce of progress that has been made in the last eight years has been wiped clean by the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and this serves to fundamentally redefine the course of America.
However, what is most intriguing is that American voters have been eating up Donald Trump’s policies, and have jumped through mental hoops to rationalize their vote. It’s amazing that empathy has been abandoned in this particular election; people have chosen to pick a candidate that will directly remove rights from others. It’s understandable that some people are nervous or scared of the changes that come with social progress, but it is their obligation to be self-aware about their concerns and avoid imposing their fear onto the lives of others. As a direct result of this election, many Americans will lose their ability to make decisions for themselves.
If you voted for Trump, refused to vote, or cast your vote for a third party candidate, you voted to make your fear and irrational bias a part of American legislation. You are accountable for lives that are made worse as a result of the Trump presidency, and you are accountable for your own lack of self-awareness during the election. It simply doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourself a bigot, because your vote was cast in the name of someone who is. Your vote is directly representative of an America where values of homophobia, misogyny, and racism are tolerated, and you are immediately responsible for that.