Where do we go from here?

After the election result for the 45^th president of the United States came in, I decided to take a couple of days to unplug from social media and the news to really understand what this could mean. I have experienced many emotions regarding the results, mostly anger, fear, and sadness. I am worried for the future of the country. I am worried for what the United States will look like for my children. I know that among many of my friends, this is a common consensus.

I feel like at this time it is appropriate to share my anger and shame regarding the elections. I have tirelessly been following the elections since Donald Trump announced that he would run as the Republican candidate whether or not the GOP decided to support him.

Since the beginning of the Trump campaign there have been many topics that have been expressed that disturb me. There are several that really hit home for me. As a young professional I have always focused my efforts in social justice; the importance of protecting people in our society that can easily be left out or forgotten as a result of the structure of many social systems.

In the world today, we are seeing the largest diaspora ever. People are fleeing many parts of the world because of war and political instability. I think that the election of Donald Trump is the result of xenophobia on a global scale. Closing our boarders and closing our minds is not the answer to fixing the overall problem. If anything, this response will only create greater tensions than we currently face.

I am concerned about the future of health care overall. I know that the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obama Care, did not roll out as intended and ultimately ended up making insurance premiums go up for many Americans mean while increased access to health care for individuals previously uninsured or uninsurable. Social change is not instant. It takes time. First changes have to be implemented and then the effects can be measured.

Even more than health insurance and access to health care I am worried about a woman’s right to choose. Her right to make choices about her body that are appropriate and safe. I am not advocating for death. I am advocating for safety. It is important for women to have control, be able to plan the size of their families and the years between their children. Not only should women have access to safe medical facilities if they do choose this option, but women should also be able to make choices about the size of their families. Especially since male birth control seems to be out of the question at this point.

Although this is not my area of expertise I believe that the election of Donald Trump reflects deeply on the Public Education System. I believe that first of all, the system has failed us or we have failed the system. Secondly, I believe that as American’s we can so quickly turn a blind eye to long-standing institutional racism which the Public Education System is filled with many rules and ideas that reflect “separate but equal” policies dating all the way back to the American Civil War. Since this is not my area that I know in depth I will leave it to you to do the research. A place I would recommend to start would be here:

My last point, and overall concern, is the future. We can no longer act like our actions do not affect the lives of others. Everything we do now will affect policy and changes to policy will affect our social organization in our communities and in our relationships with others and ourselves. I believe that now is the time, more than ever, for us to think critically about the intent of our actions and the unintended consequences of them.

To our past and our future, I am sorry that we failed you.