Letter to the Editor: No to racism and bullying

Dear Editor: 

I needed a few days to process the fact that Donald Trump was elected President.

I do not understand why people would vote for a person like Trump. He based his campaign on racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, sexism and misogyny and offended many groups of people. During the course of his campaign, he made it okay for his supporters to physically attack those who were there to protest, a right granted by the 1st Amendment, the freedom of speech. 

Not only that, but he also used bully tactics to attack other candidates and gave them insulting nicknames. That is not presidential, that is childish; we have a 70 year-old man acting like a schoolyard bully. The ironic part about that is that his wife, Melania, gave a speech about her plans to combat cyberbullying as First Lady. Trump would be considered a cyberbully from his many tweets. Melania should start with her husband and teaching him that cyberbullying is not okay. 

Yet, people elected him, and as a result, I’ve already read some stories about hate crimes taking place. Not to mention there were already hate crimes taking place during Trump’s campaign. Trump made it okay to commit hate crimes because of his words and actions. Many of those people now live in fear, and I fear for them as well. If I ever see a hate crime taking place, I will interfere and protect the person being attacked. It’s the right thing to do, even if it means I will be injured or even killed. 

In a few months, Trump will be sworn into office, a day that I, nor many other people do not look forward to. I can only hope for the best, that Trump will change his ways and condemn the actions of others, but sadly hope can only go so far and I cannot change the ways of others. As for Trump condemning the actions of others, I do not believe that will happen either, since he had never condemned the actions of his supporters attacking protesters at his rallies.

One thing I and other people can do though, condemn the actions of others, defend those being attacked. This is America, everyone should be treated equally, regardless of sex, race, and beliefs.

William Hara
Downey