Unless you’ve been living under the largest and deepest rock in recorded geological history, there’s a good chance you’ve been subjected to the numerous reports and countless headlines dominated by the one and only, Donald Trump. Whether you love him or hate him, there’s no denying in that his rise from political joke to serious (and lead GOP) contender for the 2016 Presidential Election was an incredibly swift and surprising feat.
His claims on everything from immigration to terrorism have been pretty polarized and even jarring, sparking furious debate from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike on all facets of communication, whether it be over social media, on mainstream news stations, or angry family dinners. But this isn’t about Trump, because honestly Trump isn’t the “problem” I see in the United States. If anything, his campaign has helped shed light to the darker, uglier side of the U.S that has seemed to evade most headlines in favor of more dramatic issues like terrorism or whatever North Korea seems to be threatening next.
You can agree with many of Trump’s points, you’re allowed to have different views on particular issues than others, such is the way of the United States. What is not acceptable however, is the massive amount of support many Americans have shown on ideas or policies that are not only downright un-American, they’re practically unconstitutional. Trump so far has seemed to say exactly what a lot of people want to hear, and knows exactly how to play off of what they do not. By all means so far, he’s doing a great job of convincing many Americans that he is the right candidate.
The unfortunate truth however is that the focus seems to be on whether or not people agree with some of the statements made by Trump, not that some ideas are completely unacceptable in the modern United States as we know it. This isn’t a jab at Trump or his campaign, it’s a jab at the countless Americans that seem to have forgotten what ideas this country was founded on, and countless so that have thrown liberties to the wind in favor of security and short term gratification.
It doesn’t matter what your political, social, ethnic, or religious background is; if you agree with blatant discrimination against religious or ethnic groups in the form of bans on immigration based on said characteristics, in the form of identification badges, or in the form of specific monitoring of mosques or other locations of supposed religious freedom promised in the United States, then you are un-American. Using fear and past attacks as justification to discriminate against people who have in most cases gone through the immensely difficult process of immigration into the United States is not only morally wrong, it’s ignorant, and it’s possibly one of the most unpatriotic and un-American acts a U.S citizen can commit.
Discrimination in any form against people who have legally come to the United States because of identifying characteristics such as ethnicity or religion is unacceptable in 2015, and it’s going against nearly everything this country was founded on. America should be the land of the free, and it’s slowly and unfortunately turning into the land of the fearful and the secure. The person that chooses security over liberty deserves neither, and unfortunately, many of those that call the U.S home seem to have already made the wrong decision, and aren’t intent on stepping down from it anytime soon.
So I reiterate, Trump isn’t the problem. Because of our freedom we Americans seem to stand up and fight for every day, people are allowed to freely express their agreeances with this candidate.
The problem is the pure bigotry, discrimination, and un-American culture that some (but not all) of Trump’s policies and statements have bred. So before you take a stance on any of the upcoming policies or candidates in this 2016 election, before you can even consider expressing your opinions and concerns, take a step back and ask yourself: is this acceptable? Does this abide by the U.S’ ideologies and Constitution? And most importantly: is this American?
