The sacred position of the United States presidency, held by men that I have the utmost respect for, my heroes, has been spat upon. A con artist, a blatant bigot, an imposter, a “venomous charlatan” has invaded our democracy. This is sacrilege of our highest office-there is no other word for it. Today is truly a dark day in American history. The legacies of these men, men who dedicated their entire lives to the bettering of this world, along with all other 40 past presidents, have been ridiculed. The validity and legitimacy of the presidency itself has been forever tainted.

So congratulations to the electoral majority, but popular minority. You did it. You blew up the establishment, you blindly directed your anger and put your faith in this toxic man. You have made clear your deep-rooted hatred of the progress of the free world. So many of us now fear for our futures. So many of us feel personally victimized and discriminated against by the outcome of this election. You will soon realize the graveness of this mistake. You will soon realize that he will be unable to accomplish the vast majority of his disillusioned agenda. You will soon realize that you are to blame for a national disaster.

I will leave you with this: you have successfully taken away my pride as an American.

Yet, somehow the world will go on. Somehow we will get through this. However, those of us with love and acceptance in our hearts must continue to use our voices. We must stand up and say no, knocking others down is not how you get where you want to go. No, women will continue to demand equality and we will not succumb to the obviously rampant misogyny in our society. No, love is love. No my body belongs to me and me only. No, the health of our planet is in serious jeopardy and we must take action. We must work to assure our friends of all different races and religions that we stand with them during these difficult times. We must resonate a message of inclusivity and tolerance to counter the message of our new administration. We must demonstrate that Donald Trump does not represent all Americans. We are still citizens of the United States of America, we still have a voice. I encourage you to use it over the next four years.

Caroline Wells Cox,
Syracuse University