One thing I didn't mention in my Nashville in June blog, was that on that trip was the announcement of the UK's European Union (EU) Referendum. It was a long night that left me tired, sad and utterly miserable at the thought of going back to a country that had changed. I, myself, had voted to remain in the EU and was horrified that so many people had voted to leave, especially as it seemed that nobody truly knew what they were voting for. The 'Brexit' or leave campaign was a very negative display of political campaigning that didn't really give too many positive reasons for voting to leave the EU. In fact most people voting to leave were either voting on the sole topic of immigration or because they didn't know what to do and so just wanted to see a change. Even seeing that the majority of people in the town that I live in, voted to remain in the EU wasn't enough for me to keep hold of any kind of faith. The media coverage of the referendum was huge, but it all felt like 'nothing'. It didn't feel like politics, it felt like a guy who was photographed with a pint in his hand (so obviously he is the every-man) sharing his radically racist agenda and convincing the masses that his opinions on immigration were forward thinking and would better people's quality of life. When in fact, almost as soon as the announcement was made that the UK had voted to leave the EU, statements were being retracted, the Prime Minister resigned (which then led to an unfair and biased in house election of a new PM) and it genuinely seemed that no one had a plan, no one had any answers on what the consequences of this result were and people were left confused and felt that Brexit was completely miss sold.
After the disgusting and quite frankly embarrassing display of UK politics this year I really didn't think it could get much worse. The media has been a gross third party in all accounts; the US election was exposed as a complete reality TV show. There certainly needed to be a change in politics, it needs to be more accessible for everyone in society, but this year has been an absolute joke. Trump was elected by a little more than a quarter of eligible voters in the US. There are several reasons why people don't vote, one being that voting day in America is always a Tuesday so the majority of people are at work or school and can't afford to take time out to queue for hours before casting their vote, there are people who don't identify with any of the parties or candidates and so decide not to vote. Lets face it, voting isn't the most accessible activity for a lot of people for different reasons. It amazes me that anyone voted for Trump though, but it seems that a lot of people were voting on the basis of two things: you either vote for something you think has been done before and didn't work or something new. (hmm sounds familiar) People are so disenchanted by politics that all people are truly voting for is change, even though Trump has said some outlandish and offensive things, some people's world is already terrible and so promising a new world, any world that isn't the current one has seemingly won a vote.
After the disgusting and quite frankly embarrassing display of UK politics this year I really didn't think it could get much worse. The media has been a gross third party in all accounts; the US election was exposed as a complete reality TV show. There certainly needed to be a change in politics, it needs to be more accessible for everyone in society, but this year has been an absolute joke. Trump was elected by a little more than a quarter of eligible voters in the US. There are several reasons why people don't vote, one being that voting day in America is always a Tuesday so the majority of people are at work or school and can't afford to take time out to queue for hours before casting their vote, there are people who don't identify with any of the parties or candidates and so decide not to vote. Lets face it, voting isn't the most accessible activity for a lot of people for different reasons. It amazes me that anyone voted for Trump though, but it seems that a lot of people were voting on the basis of two things: you either vote for something you think has been done before and didn't work or something new. (hmm sounds familiar) People are so disenchanted by politics that all people are truly voting for is change, even though Trump has said some outlandish and offensive things, some people's world is already terrible and so promising a new world, any world that isn't the current one has seemingly won a vote.
Incredibly, over 50% of white women in the US voted for Trump. I had no idea that he had such a huge support with this demographic. With this in mind I decided to look into it and stumbled across the Women for Trump official website. It is sad that the Women for Trump site acknowledges the sexist remarks that Trump has made, but instead of that fuelling activism and campaigns against him, they instead have passed off his comments as making him 'real' for not reading off a teleprompter. 'We look at his actions, not his words' the whole tone of the site is childish with a very strong theme of 'othering', the constant use of the phrase 'they say'. It is heartbreaking to think that there are women out there that support Trump and his pro life views, that women should never have abortions in any case, that he would never put funding behind any kind of pro choice system, a system that many people who are pregnant are in need of when they cannot support a child or that it would cause them severe medical trauma. Even if you aren't strongly opinionated on abortions, just knowing how Trump treats women is an easy no vote. The grossly inappropriate comments he has made towards his own daughter, his constant objectification of women on social media, in interviews and on live tv, he has used words such as 'bimbo' and 'dog' to refer to female journalists, he has been caught groping women and yet some people still think that he supports women's rights.
Women are not the only group of people who have been subjected to Trump's gross nature: If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, seemingly in particular if you are trans, if you are Muslim, Mexican, Latino, Black African American, hell if you aren't white there is no doubt that Trump will have said something offensive towards you. His policies on immigration aren't just racist, they are highly dangerous and if implemented could set the US way back. It is infuriating that these communities have come out and expressed why they wouldn't feel safe with Trump as president, how it would damage their lives and even though so many people who voted for Trump are now standing by lines like 'It doesn't make me racist or homophobic' it generally just gives off the impression that, well, you don't care too much for your fellow Americans. The amount of racist attacks and hate crimes reported in the UK after the announcement of Brexit's win was astounding, it was terrifying and it is upsetting to think that more people will have to go through that in the US. (Day 1 in Trump's America)
The amount of comments I have seen from friends online lashing out and asking for people who support or voted for Trump to remove them from social media, is completely understandable. If it wasn't just that the American electoral system is a mess and that Donald Trump technically won with less votes than Hilary Clinton did, then it is that people are angry and scared...genuinely scared. I would usually jump straight in and begin to share my views but this time I stood back and just watched for a little while. It really surprised me that, out of the very few Americans I know that voted for Trump, these people were less gloating about their triumph but calling for love instead of hate. They were upset with the posts other people had made against them, didn't understand the necessity of demonstrations and people marching in support of their LGBTQ+, Muslim, ethnic minority brothers and sisters and instead posted things like 'We voted for different candidates, can't we just let the election be over and love each other?' As if politics and political opinions are completely isolated and only matter when there is an election. Your political view is incredibly important, it emanates your views of the world, it shows what and who you care about, and so of course if your view is to support someone that wants a hostile and less accepting place for people who are not the same as you then of course people aren't going to just be 'accepting' of you.
I didn't want to act like an internet troll, I wanted to find out why people voted the way they did and explain to them why I wouldn't have done the same and expose them to some of the grossly offensive things that Trump has said and done. Unfortunately I can't change everyone's opinion, but I hope that some of the things I have said did make people read a few more articles or talk to some people that have different lived experiences from their own - I am very lucky to be a cisgendered white female in today's society and if it wasn't for the incredible friends I have made in the past 6 years I am not sure what my thoughts would be. I wouldn't know about half of the issues facing LGBTQ+ and Black communities as I do today, and so to those friends who have educated me and inspired me to educate others...thank you.
Women are not the only group of people who have been subjected to Trump's gross nature: If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, seemingly in particular if you are trans, if you are Muslim, Mexican, Latino, Black African American, hell if you aren't white there is no doubt that Trump will have said something offensive towards you. His policies on immigration aren't just racist, they are highly dangerous and if implemented could set the US way back. It is infuriating that these communities have come out and expressed why they wouldn't feel safe with Trump as president, how it would damage their lives and even though so many people who voted for Trump are now standing by lines like 'It doesn't make me racist or homophobic' it generally just gives off the impression that, well, you don't care too much for your fellow Americans. The amount of racist attacks and hate crimes reported in the UK after the announcement of Brexit's win was astounding, it was terrifying and it is upsetting to think that more people will have to go through that in the US. (Day 1 in Trump's America)
The amount of comments I have seen from friends online lashing out and asking for people who support or voted for Trump to remove them from social media, is completely understandable. If it wasn't just that the American electoral system is a mess and that Donald Trump technically won with less votes than Hilary Clinton did, then it is that people are angry and scared...genuinely scared. I would usually jump straight in and begin to share my views but this time I stood back and just watched for a little while. It really surprised me that, out of the very few Americans I know that voted for Trump, these people were less gloating about their triumph but calling for love instead of hate. They were upset with the posts other people had made against them, didn't understand the necessity of demonstrations and people marching in support of their LGBTQ+, Muslim, ethnic minority brothers and sisters and instead posted things like 'We voted for different candidates, can't we just let the election be over and love each other?' As if politics and political opinions are completely isolated and only matter when there is an election. Your political view is incredibly important, it emanates your views of the world, it shows what and who you care about, and so of course if your view is to support someone that wants a hostile and less accepting place for people who are not the same as you then of course people aren't going to just be 'accepting' of you.
I didn't want to act like an internet troll, I wanted to find out why people voted the way they did and explain to them why I wouldn't have done the same and expose them to some of the grossly offensive things that Trump has said and done. Unfortunately I can't change everyone's opinion, but I hope that some of the things I have said did make people read a few more articles or talk to some people that have different lived experiences from their own - I am very lucky to be a cisgendered white female in today's society and if it wasn't for the incredible friends I have made in the past 6 years I am not sure what my thoughts would be. I wouldn't know about half of the issues facing LGBTQ+ and Black communities as I do today, and so to those friends who have educated me and inspired me to educate others...thank you.
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