by Lauren Scott

Credit: Tim Kitz
Credit: Tim Kitz

I’m conflicted about writing this right now. On one hand, I don’t want to give this man any more attention, and on the other, he — and what he stands for —  really needs to be talked about. More importantly, we need to address what the changing landscape of American politics means for social and political progress in North America.

Donald Trump is now America’s President-elect, something I never thought would be possible. But here we are, and we’re just north of all of this madness.

If you ask me (you didn’t, but you’re gonna get my two cents anyways), it’s not Trump that is the real problem, although we love to personify issues and turn them into people, in an effort to put a face to the blame. What is scarier are the people that follow him, the people who hear “let’s build a wall and make Mexico pay for it” and “grab her by the pussy” and feel justified in their hatred.

There have been instances of people assaulting protesters at rallies on Trump’s behalf, to which he joked that he would pay the assailant’s legal fees.

But that joke isn’t funny and even Trump himself has come to realize it, saying in a 60 Minutes interview that his supporters need to “stop it” and that he is “so saddened” by the hateful actions that have been carried out in his name.

Then there are the hate crimes. As of Nov. 18, the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented over 400 cases of hate crimes across the U.S. since the Nov. 8 election. That is about 40 incidents a day.

The FBI released its Hate Crime Statistics for 2015, which showed a 67 per cent increase in hate crimes against Muslim-Americans. There was also a marked increase in hate crimes against Jewish people, African Americans and LGBT individuals in the last year.

Reported hate crimes rose by 6 per cent across the U.S. in 2015. However, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said that the number could be much higher, as many incidents go unreported.

Across the States swastika graffiti and bastardized slogans like “Make America White Again,” have appeared on store windows, walls, bathroom stalls and shared on social media. Disturbingly, similar graffiti has targeted Ottawa neighbourhoods since the election.

At the York County School of Technology, a Pennsylvania high school, minority students reported continuous harassment from white students throughout the election campaign. On Nov. 10, two days after the election, a group of white students marched through the halls yelling “white power,” while carrying a Trump campaign sign. At this same high school, there have also been reports of white students spitting in the faces of their minority classmates.

Further south, former University of Tennessee lineman and Clinton supporter, Chris Weatherd woke up the morning after the election to find his car vandalized. Across each side of his car was “F*** you, N*****!” and “Trump!” scrawled in white pen.

On Nov. 12, Adrienne Juarascio, a Drexel University professor in South Philadelphia who had displayed a Clinton campaign sign on her lawn, found the words “It’s our p**** now, b****!” carved into the passenger side of her car.

Juarascio took to social media to address the incident.

“It’s hard to ignore the impact that electing a misogynistic, racist, xenophobe as our president will have on the people of our nation. The growing number of incidents of intimidation and harassment that have occurred since Tuesday should be terrifying to all of us. And since we can’t count on our new president to condemn the outpouring of racist, sexist, anti-semitic, and homophobic insults from some of his supporters in the past couple days, the rest of us will need to continue coming together to fight hatred in all of its forms. So, to whoever decided to key my car, thanks for providing an extra burst of motivation to help make my community a better place in every way I possibly can,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

My sister goes to school at the University of Oregon and the day after Trump won, a friend of hers was assaulted. This friend was walking across campus when a group of men started chanting “Trump! Trump! Trump!” Keep in mind that Oregon is one of the most liberal states in the U.S. and one of the states in which Hillary won easily. And yet, there is still division.

Anyways, this friend yelled “Fuck Trump” in response, to which these men reacted with violence. They ran over to her, tossed her down onto the ground and punched her in the face. She is a woman of colour.

Why do these assailants believe this is okay? Because they follow a man who says it is? One who has so much fucking money that he can bail out anyone willing to act on their racism and misogyny in the name of a vision of a past America, in the name of good old American “freedom.”

These people have been given “freedom” from political correctness, from the “social justice warriors” and feminists, and Trump is seen as their so-called savior.

But political correctness does have a place in politics. It’s not a matter of infringing on someone’s right to free speech, but someone else’s right to a safe space.

Shailynn Cornish, a sophomore student at York County School of Technology told PennLive that school is no longer a safe space for her and other minority students.

“It’s because of the election. All these white people who are for Trump are going against all the blacks and Hispanics. They are going around shouting white power and being racists towards blacks. It’s not safe. You are not comfortable,” Cornish told PennLive.

Freedom has been confused, and in America I’m not sure if it truly has a meaning anymore.

With every hate crime the odds continue to stack up against minorities and marginalized peoples in America. When will we reach a tipping point?

This article was first published in the Leveller Vol. 9, No. 3

Trump Elected