**The views expressed in this article are those of the author and are not representative of Her Campus as a whole.**
You don’t have to like what I have to say. I don’t always like what I hear, but this is a reality for a lot of people and it needs to be written about. Some people don’t feel like this country is their home, even if they were born and raised here. I love this country and I have been given so many opportunities because I live in this country and I am so grateful. I really truly am. However, lately I am ashamed to say that I am from the United States of America. I am disgusted by what I see in the news. I, for the most part, have felt fairly safe in this country. I do have the fact that I am a tiny unassuming girl on my side to contribute to that feeling of safety, but I have so much fear for my brother and my dad. “White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population but only about 49 percent of those who are killed by police officers. African Americans, however, account for 24 percent of those fatally shot and killed by the police despite being just 13 percent of the U.S. population (Lowery).” Do you know how scary that is to read? My brother was recently pulled over and my heart stopped when I heard that. I was terrified that he had a bad interaction or that he was in more trouble than he should have been in for speeding. Luckily, it was a good interaction, because not all police officers are bad. However, it still scared me. I think police officers are necessary, I think they do a lot of good things, but there is never any way to know if you just got pulled over by a dirty police officer and are going to be killed for not stopping at a stop sign. Especially, if you are a black man. I have only had good interactions with police officers, they were all so kind, and for that I am exceedingly grateful. However, not everyone has that luxury. That needs to be fixed.
I was recently walking on campus, listening to my music and eating my lunch in between classes and a few men walked up to me. They asked me, “Will you sign the petition that we are passing around to get the president of our university to acknowledge and condemn the ban barring individuals from predominately Muslim countries from entering the country?” I don’t think my pen has been pulled out of my bag faster. That ban that Trump claimed ‘wasn’t targeting Muslims’ was damaging these Muslim students’ college experience. One of these student’s father is seriously ill and he cannot risk leaving the country for fear of not being able to come back into the country to finish his schooling. I was so angry. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first (Blake).” This is a line from Trump’s inauguration speech. It gives me chills, and not the good kind. This type of speech really scares me. I agree that the U.S. is important, but I also know that we have an extreme ability to help countries that need it. This line sounds like Trump doesn’t care about anyone in the world except for those born and still living in the United States of America. If you have a dual citizenship, we can’t help you. If you moved to another country, but were born in the States, we can’t help you either. Sorry. “Trump’s immigration order: Which countries are affected? Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia (Politics).” “Now, one aspect of the new policy that has drawn notice are countries that are not on the list, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. And those are the countries of origin of a number of people who carried out terrorist attacks in the U.S. starting with September 11, 2001. Those countries also happen to be places where President Trump and his family have business interests (Geewax and Martin).” Suspicious? Not really, considering all of the other things Trump has done.
I regularly follow the news. I have a subscription to the New York Times and I get a morning and evening news update and too often I see an article about hate crimes. It hits me so hard. “The Southern Poverty Law Center has reported that there were four hundred and thirty-seven incidents of intimidation between the election, on November 8th, and November 14th, targeting blacks and other people of color, Muslims, immigrants, the L.G.B.T. community, and women (Okeowo).” That’s about 62.50 incidents a day. That is ridiculous. That makes me feel unsafe. It should make everyone feel unsafe. The only people not mentioned in that list of targets are straight white men. I don’t hate white men. I don’t. I do dislike it when white men ignore their privilege or use it for things that aren’t helpful to anyone but themselves. Almost everyone in the U.S. has some sort of privilege and it can be used for good. I want everyone to use their privilege for good. I hope that I use my privilege for good.
This country can and hopefully will be good again and I will hopefully be able to once again feel proud to call this country my home. Here are a few things that are making me proud right now. I was able to sign a petition on campus showing my support for Muslim individuals. I have been able to attend marches on my campus that made me ridiculously proud to go to the school that I do. I am working with individuals in the women’s prison to show my support in the idea that everyone deserves an education. I am seeing women and men all over campus showing their support for the LGBTQ+ and the community of color. I am in a club that is run by a powerful group of women. I regularly read articles about people resisting Trump’s policies. I read tweets that are pointing out flaws in Trump’s policies. I see famous people giving speeches about what is wrong with Trump’s policies. All of these things make me happy and proud.
References
Blake, Aaron. Trump’s full inauguration speech transcript, annotated. 20 January 2017. Article. 17 February 2017.
Geewax, Marilyn and Michel Martin. Countries Listed On Trump’s Refugee Ban Don’t Include Those He Has Business With. 28 January 2017. NPR Broadcast Transcript. 17 February 2017.
Lowery, Wesley. Aren’t more white people than black people killed by police? Yes, but no. 11 July 2016. Article. 17 February 2017.
Okeowo, Alexis. HATE ON THE RISE AFTER TRUMP’S ELECTION. 17 November 2016. Article. 17 February 2017.
Politics, CNN. Full text of Trump’s executive order on 7-nation ban, refugee suspension. 28 January 2017. Article. 17 February 2017.