I’m not going to sugar coat it: I am concerned for America’s future.
But it’s not in the sense of the rights of my LGBTQ, Latino, Muslim, and immigrant brothers and sisters being taken away necessarily. Of course, I’m concerned for them; they’re my family, my friends. It’s more than that. My concerns comes from the great division we’ve created across the country.
My boyfriend, Eli, came across a meme that said “Trump is not my president,” followed by pictures of a Troy Bolton-era Zac Efron shrugging, captioned: “Deal with it.”
“For the love of God, it’s not literal,” he said. “Stop taking it so literally.”
Explaining to me the reason behind posting it, Eli told me that he’s “exasperated with Republicans on Facebook,” he said.
“Dammit, I’m done with EVERYONE on Facebook,” I said back with a long sigh.
And I am.
I’m sick and tired of the rioters in Portland. And let me be clear: I’m a huge supporter of everything our First Amendment says. I believe in the power of protesting when it’s done lawfully and peacefully.
Breaking buildings does not fit in my definition of peaceful protesting. Throwing fireworks at the police just makes you look like you’re worse than Trump himself, a guy who’s been accused of sexual misconduct countless times by countless women.
When you fight hate with destruction and vandalism, you become the loser. But at the same time, how else are we supposed to avenge a Trump presidency?
Although the answer may sound like the most cliche response of all time, I still stand by it: we must fight Hate with Love.
We all know what Trump has done during his campaigning:
He’s mocked the disabled, defamed veterans like John McCain who were prisoners-of-war or have PTSD, and mocked the parents of a fallen Muslim soldier whose speech emphasized the American right to religious freedom.
He still believes in a border-wall, although he’s allowed for such a wall to be a fence in some areas. Deportation still remains a big theme for his campaign, which begs the question, “how can he get away with what he says he’s going to do over the course of these next four years?”
He’s changed his mind about LGBT issues countless times. In a recent 60 Minutes interview, he made his most recent statement on the subject.
“These [Freedom of Marriage Act] changes have gone to the Supreme Court; they’ve been decided, and I’m fine with that,” said President-Elect Trump.
His vice-president, however, still is a major opponent of LGBTQ rights.
This is the extent of what many consider to be his “hate.” But I encourage you to read the sidebar to help find ways to fight this Hate with Love.
And if you ever want to talk to someone, feel free to email me: morgan.connelly.8013@mail.linnbenton.edu.
Fight Hate With Love:
Across America
- For Veterans: The Wounded Warrior project “provides free programs and services focused on the physical, mental, and long-term financial well-being of this generation of injured veterans, their families and caregivers.”
To find out how you can help a Veteran, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org
- For the LGBTQ community: You may not be a fan of Miley Cyrus personally, but may support the many things her Happy Hippie Foundation advocates for: education, LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, social justice, homeless youth, mental health, environment, and animal welfare. As for Happy Hippy itself, it’s “…mission is to rally young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth, and other vulnerable populations.”
For links to the issues mentioned, visit www.happyhippies.org which gives you URL’s to all of Cyrus’s favorite causes, including her own.
- To fight for immigrant’s rights: Catholic Charities offers a program called Immigration Legal Services, which provides family visas, naturalization, asylum, deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA), removal defense through immigration and federal courts, assistance to survivors of domestic violence, temporary protected status (TPS), visas for crime victims, assistance to survivors of human trafficking, and other types of assistance.
http://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/services_legal_services.asp
2740 SE Powell Blvd., #2 (Floor 3)
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 542-2855
- To support Journalism and our First Amendment Rights: ProPublica is a unique media company whose Mission statement is “to expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions, using the moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.” Another great way to support journalism is to invest in a local newspaper like the Oregonian, the Albany Democrat-Herald, and the Corvallis Gazette-Times. Don’t like reading big bulky newspapers? Every one of these publications offers online subscriptions.
On campus:
- Linn-Benton’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club: The LBCC Gender & Sexuality Alliance is a student organization at Linn-Benton Community College for Gender, Sexual and Romantic Minorities and Allies. Their president is Ceph Poklemba, and meets on Mondays from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Diversity Achievement Center.
- Linn-Benton Veteran’s Club: Located next to the Forum and the Courtyard (below the Commons/Cafeteria), the Veterans Club is a great place to get involved with helping the veterans in your community, or to get help and services if you yourself have served. This term, they meet on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. in their office. Everyone is welcome to join their Facebook group page, Linn-Benton Community College Veterans Club, for more information or to contact group members directly.
- Other Diversity Achievement Center resources: The DAC is is an incredible safe space for all walks of life with helpful staff members and comfy couches to make you feel at home. Check in to do your homework, hangout between classes, or learn about upcoming events. I can personally attest that the DAC’s director Javier Cervantes is extremely welcoming and willing to meet with you to talk about anything.