POV: Why I Worry in the Wake of Trump’s Win

A student of color’s fear for what could lie ahead

Photo of Donald Trump

Photo by Flickr Contributor Gage Skidmore

November 11, 2016
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It was 2:56 a.m. Wednesday, the very somber end to this election season. Donald J. Trump had just been elected president of the United States. And no, unfortunately this was not a cheap Netflix horror movie one could quickly close a tab on. This was not some nightmare in which we wake up 20 minutes late for our 9 a.m. lecture. Donald Trump is now our new president for the next four years. As I lay in bed, stunned and deeply saddened, I could not help but think of the struggles my mother, a Korean immigrant, experienced and the kind of racial backlash she must have encountered: the racist names, the lost opportunities she endured simply because she did not fit into what the model American looked or sounded like.

It disheartens me to think of the discrimination I may experience in the coming months simply because of the results of this election. I should not feel like I have to worry about taking the train for fear of getting attacked by one of his supporters. I should not feel this overwhelming sense of relief when I find out one of my friends from back home did not support him.

I come from a Long Island town where diversity is a luxury that I have yet to experience. I remember a moment in middle school when I returned from a bathroom break only to find my classmates huddled around my backpack saying it reeked of Asian. I remember this past summer, walking back to my car in a dark and empty parking lot only to have a driver shout that he would personally deport my mother and me once Trump was elected.

I am scared for the safety of my sisters, both in my family and beyond. I am worried for the well-being of my Muslim and LGBTQ+ peers. I am simply terrified for the safety of my family and all people of color. It is heartbreaking that so many now feel unwelcome in a country where, for the last eight years, progress seemed to push forward with momentum and gusto.

Today, there are political figures who actually suggest that only those with “at least four grandparents born in America” should be allowed to vote. This includes neither my family nor myself. It confuses me that a country founded by immigrants has now voted for a president who launched his political career from this xenophobic agenda.

I am numb and desolate in the realization that so many in this country voted in favor of a racist, sexist, and homophobic candidate. I plead with my brothers and sisters of color, the Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities, the mothers and daughters to stay vigilant in the uncertainty of the coming months. With live feeds from Trump’s victory speech flooding my Facebook, I have never felt such helplessness and panic.

With this disappointment, however, there is much hard work to be done. There is true hatred and prejudice harbored by so many Americans. This sudden influx of hateful rhetoric is not a foreign notion to this country. Racism, for many decades, has been hidden behind closed doors. Donald J. Trump has not only fueled this animosity, but has allowed it to become a blaring facet of American culture. I truly thank those that supported Donald Trump this past election. They have highlighted the ugly holes within this nation’s racially charged foundation. What we can do, now, is take our pain and anxiety and direct it towards equality. This country has been divided heavily before, and I truly believe that progress will be an undeniable consequence of this election.

As Barack Obama said earlier this week, “No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning.”

Jae Yoon Bae (CAS’19) can be reached at jaebae@bu.edu.

“POV” is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state, national, or international. Anyone interested in submitting a piece, which should be about 700 words long, should contact Rich Barlow at barlowr@bu.edu. BU Today reserves the right to reject or edit submissions. The views expressed are solely those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University.

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POV: Why I Worry in the Wake of Trump’s Win

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There are 43 comments on POV: Why I Worry in the Wake of Trump’s Win

  1. You would be seeming to miss a few of the biggest points here ….

    You ARE an American citizen … and as a citizen, you’ve got NOTHING to fear (but perhaps fear itself)! All Americans aren’t white … they aren’t all catholic or even Christian … they don’t all share one gender or sexual orientation … they aren’t all affiliated with one party … etc etc etc.

    If an individual has broken no laws, OTHER THAN having entered or overstayed a visa, they’ve going LITTLE to worry about immediately … but face the reality – they’re here ILLEGALLY and they aren’t participating/paying into our system and they’re exploiting the benefits … THAT’S not right.

    For those who’ve broken much more serious laws, they should be deported and kept out of the country – PERIOD …THIS is what the people just voted – the people DON’T feel safe and they’re very angry with their elected representation for continually kicking the can down the road versus making a decision. Those cities that are harboring and otherwise protecting ILLEGALS who’ve committed serious crimes against citizens or the state, circumventing federal laws, are themselves BREAKING the law of the land with these ‘sanctuary cities’ … again, THIS is what the people voted and they want to see it stopped NOW – they’ve grown VERY tired of DCs inaction. The People also voted for the need to FULLY SECURE THE BORDERS … not because they’re paranoid or xenophobic as a people, but because they understand that when they go to bed at night, they do so after locking their front door, closing up windows and generally securing the home … it’s only LOGICAL – if you don’t have a border, do you even have a country?!

    Only after solving the BIGGER issues with ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, will we as a people begin to deal with the ‘rest of the problem’ … but, make no mistake, IT’S a BIG problem!

    For friends and associates of yours who might experience discomfort at some level, I’m personally quite sorry as that’s simply not right … if they’re in the country legally and otherwise being responsible citizens, they’re Americans and in that capacity should enjoy EVERY benefit of citizenship!

    And also understand too, much of the violence of the SO called ‘Trump supporters’ has been debunked as having actually been paid professional protestors … there’s an especially evil man named George Soros who’s been advancing his own corrupt foundations – ‘Open Society’ as well as ‘MoveOn.org’ and a dark web of others … he’s perfectly fine advancing this sort of civil unrest as a method of forcing change.

    Give Trump a chance … if it doesn’t work out, he too will be replaced.

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    1. Hi Greg,

      I do get where you coming from and I understand people’s fear not being safe with no borders etc. I come from a country who had an illegal immigrations issue as well. But you need to tell those Americans out there to leave the ones who are legal here, including me, alone. They don’t realize that most of us are legal here and not criminals. They only see that we are different and afraid that we cause threat. Meanwhile, we are here just to get a better education and future and we help your country go forward before our own.

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      1. Well said Greg! I have to give you kudos in being brave to say what so many of us are thinking! I voted Trump – I am not a fan of corruption, violence or people who fail to see that you do have your own mind and have your own opinion. This “entitlement” generation is absolutely bonkers!!!TRUMP 2016 MAGA!!!

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    3. American people just stop before civilization backwards and culture fallen by voting. Criminals, illegals, drug dealers, cults, corruptions, and racists should not be the mainstream in this country.

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    4. Greg,

      I agree with you on illegal immigration. However, I think you are the one missing the bigger picture here. It is much more than illegal immigration. It is much more than that. It is about hatred, racism, sexism and xenophobia. Let me lay it out for you.

      First, the author never mentioned that it was a white person who yelled at him in that parking lot. And yet, you already know it was the a person from white community because you and I both know that racism exists. Did that person know that if the author was American citizen or illegal immigrant? Definitely not. He saw a man of color and made his own conclusion. But that did not matter to him, because there is underlying belief that those people who are of color does not belong here. This is not just about illegal immigration. It is about racism and hatred toward people of color that has surfaced from this election.

      Second, the electoral map speaks a lot about who voted for Donald Trump. It is those people are “from counties in the industrial midwest where whites without a college education are the majority”.

      Take a look at the data:
      http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/how-trump-pushed-the-election-map-to-the-right.html

      Let’s think about that for a minute. In those area, how many immigrants do you think live there, let alone illegal immigrants? How many people do you think have actually experienced culture of immigrants? I bet its close to 0%. How many people in that counties do you think are actually negatively affected by illegal immigration? I bet that is very low.
      A good majorities of immigrants live in inner cities, work in lower wage jobs that noone else wants to do. Okay then, why protest illegal immigration? Is it illegal immigration? I don’t think so, it is more than that.

      This election has revealed an ugly side of america that was dormant for years and it has been waiting for an agent to express their mind freely, and they found it in Donald Trump.

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      1. Wow. You just ignored the Native American population all together. The Immigrants we saw come made us the smallest, least cared about group in the U.S.

        And for your knowledge NO Elizabeth wannabe Waren is not Native American, one has to be a certain degree of Native American blood, which is documented and validated by the BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs.

        I am registered, tracked and my descendants are also as were my ancestors. We each have an Official BIA Registration Card recognizing our degree of blood and membership in that tribe.

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      2. The state that voted 100% in every county for Trump was Oklahoma. Oklahoma is full of Mexican, Indian, Blacks,German (immigrants before 1900), Irish, Shites, other Muslim towns.

        Texas is full of immigrants, Minnesota has the greatest number of Hmong and Middle-Eastern immigrants then any other state.

        Your base of Hatred for Minorities is as steadfast as a quicksand pond.

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      3. “not Greg”

        Greg did not say any of the instances were “white people” that were being racist – but you did. Isn’t grouping people into a stereotype based only on skin in itself racist? White people without college education – implying that they are ignorant dolts — isn’t that a bit prejudice? There are lots of very successful people of all races who don’t have college educations, people who have started companies provided jobs for others. A college education does not make you superior, and if you think it does you are not truly educated.

        You can look at electoral maps and try to make the map read into your slanted view, but I challenge you to dig deeper – look at real numbers. States like Pennsylvania – a state that is a blue as NY or MA voted for Trump. It was an electoral landslide but not a popular one, and I am glad. It means we have different points of view, and that is good, that is diversity, it is not a referendum on racism. Would it be the same if Hillary had won? The rich white woman?

        Racism is horrible, especially in our great country but racism does not mean white people against everyone else. Ask some older Bostonians about their experience in their new country and signs like “Irish go away”, “Catholics need not apply”. Hatred and bigotry know no boundaries except lack of truth. Don’t perpetuate it through stereotyping of any kind. We are all Americans, we voted and exercised our rights. Some feel they won, some feel they lost but we are all Americans and we need to come together now under that one and only label – AMERICAN. If we don’t, in 4 years we will see another dirty, decisive 18 month election cycle and I would rather see people working together.

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    5. Greg, PLEASE understand that not all Trump supporters think like you. You seem to be quite educated and understand the definition of “illegal immigrants”, but the problem here is that there are thousands upon thousands of Trump supporters who are far more ignorant. They think an “illegal immigrant” is essentially anyone who is not white. They think that Trump’s win gives them a right to endorse white supremacy (since most of Trump’s speeches encouraged it in the first place). As a result several supporters started committing hate crimes against nonwhites within hours of his win. There were many places where Trump supporters vandalized property with horrible messages such as “Make America White Again” or far worse phrases. You can watch many videos on YouTube showing the extent of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. that some Trump supporters have. If all Trump supporters lost this discriminatory ignorance, then perhaps people would not be as afraid as they are. Who knows how much damage will occur if everyone passively waits for him to be replaced? I do not agree with any form of injustice based on racism, sexism, or other unfair concepts, and until Trump makes an attempt to change those disgusting attitudes and remind everyone of the concept of equality, we will not give him a chance.

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      1. Dan, please check your liberal bigotry at the door. Try to watch an actual Trump rally and to be involved with actual Trump activities before you write all his supporters off as ignorant. It is beyond condescending to believe the bulk of Trump supporters think “illegal immigrant” is non-white. I have heard of the “hate crimes,” but perhaps you have heard of multiple firebombings of Trump and Republican offices? Project Veritas videos of Scott Foval and Doug Creamer boasting about infiltrating Trump rallies and causing violence? Trump actually talked about Americans loving each other in a late-October speech I watched in its entirety. I was a little surprised too. The large numbers of blacks and latinos at Trump rallies belies your assumption. On the other hand, Trump consistently expressed sympathy for black Americans and vowed to clean up the violence under which so many live.

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      2. Woah Dan, I feel you’ve formed your argument from only hearing one side. I’m not a trump supporter by any means, and I am Hispanic born in Colombia, so I am an immigrant. I see you solely state examples of violence coming from Trump supporters but choose to completely ignore violence coming from Hillary’s supporters. Her supporters burned down and entire trailer park saying people who live in trailer parks are “rednecks” and “white trash” which automatically make them trump supporters. They wanted to make these, ignorantly assumed, “trump supporters” pay for the detriment they’ve caused the country by voting him into office. Do you see where I’m going? Hatred has always existed, and sadly, will always exist. However, if you are interested in advocating and fighting against this hatred and violence, as you seem to be, then I urge you to consider both sides and acknowledge the same horrid acts from the side you support. I think it’s important to research both sides and become educated on the horrid acts by both parties. I entirely agree with you on the front that violence and hatred is not the answer, however is burning down a trailer park or destroying a Hollywood star acceptable or to be ignored simply because it wasn’t against the person you support? We shouldn’t be attacking a specific person, nor a specific group of people, instead we should target the issues at hand and address them directly.

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      3. Dan WOW your are now GOD??? “They think…” no Dan you are the ignorant one. I suggest you STOP Bullying your views as mine i suggest you focus on your opinion and where your thought come from. I am and a native American Indian and have no tolerance for your so called Hatred. And to add insult to injury I am a TRUMP supporter well educated.

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    6. Your article is full of really unfounded stuff you heard from untruth Sayers.

      You not your family are going anywhere. There is no racist agenda other then “Black Lives Matter” who fights when the victim is usually to blame.

      University Professors should be teaching you truth and values to make a worthy contribution to Society and provide for yourself and family. Instead you are being taught hatred, fear, and entitled to have your way or burn it down.

      Young man, open your mind and learn from all sides in the next election and I. The issues if today. If all you watch and listen too is one side your very existence will be only half aware. If you learn both sides you can evaluate your options and your own choices with wisdom of knowledge.

      Currently your words seem I might find you curled in your fetal position sucking your thumb awaiting your executioner or like some other students, rioting and calling for Shootings and, well, throwing a juvenile tantrum!

      Learn wisdom not what someone feeds you!
      You will be wise only then will you understand the truth.

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    7. Thank you Greg.
      Too many people are afraid to say the truth for fear of being a racist. Easy to shut down discussion whe the R word is thrown around.
      Just because we disagree with policies or lack of policies doesnt mean we are deplorable. Illegal immigration has to stop. As a country ,like any country, has the right to secure the border and determine who can come in.
      My parents were legal immigrants. I have studied in the Caribbean and needed the proper visa or else would be deported.
      I have worked with Indian Health Services and heard the complaints of American Indians about their land being destroyed by illegals at the border. They also feared for their safety.
      I have worked in Guatemala and heard stories of people beaten in Mexico if they were illegal. We should use the Mexican immigration laws which are far more restrictive than our own and say if it is good enough for Mexico then should be good enough for the US.

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  3. Thank you for your bravery and your articulate description of what many of us have found that words do not suffice to explain. You are not alone in your fear and anxiety, and you will not be alone in the face of racism. Remember that you have many people on your side and who value you and your family.

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  4. Dear Jae, thank you for putting your feelings to the written word. I had a brief conversation with my students at the beginning of class last night. I can tell you that you are not alone in your fears. You are far from alone in your anger. You are not alone in your determination to do the hard work ahead. Please join your fellow students, as well as a broader community of sisters and brothers to do the work of exposing this deep seated source of pain and disappointment and take steps to right this situation so we can become truly “one nation, indivisible…”
    I suggest that you read the very appropriate letter that President Brown sent faculty and students yesterday. Encourage others to read it as well. Talk it through and commit to taking positive steps to continue to nurture an America that we all can be proud of once again.
    Mr. Brown, I believe, was both courageous and correct in sending that letter. Students from other schools should be so lucky.

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  5. Thank you for sharing.

    To those saying “give him a chance”: the news is now full of people who are not white men being physically attacked and threatened by white men invoking Trump’s name. How can we give him a chance when leaving our houses is now even more dangerous than it was? How can I ensure that my students will be safe when I myself am not (and I am white)? And that is outside the proposed legislation that *will* take away our hard fought for rights and endanger us, if enacted.

    It was heartening and encouraging to see other BU graduate students and faculty march peacefully on Wednesday in downtown Boston. I look forward to maintaining a critical attitude and safe environment for discussion for at at BU.

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  6. My heart is broken for you, your family, all of us! You are a bigger person than I for I can not yet appreciate the actions and thought processes of those who supported Donald Trump in the voting booth. Please know that there are legions of people who feel as you do and we will not be silenced! If we all practice acceptance, tolerance, respect and kindness in our own corner of America, everyday, we will survive!

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    2. My thought process was one particular fact that I believe must be: that if We are a Country of Laws andthose Laws need to be followed.

      The suckling of our young adults has not taught them to be adults. To accept defeat graciously, to deal with disappointment, to understand that voting is not a crime if one dies not vote what someone else votes.

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  7. Thank you so much for sharing your thought. For Greg, I’m assuming are a white heterosexual man or else you wouldn’t B be saying such things. The piece doesn’t speak to you. It isn’t your reality. It’s not about who is undocumented or not. This is a heavily racial debate. You think you would ask the 600,000 undocumented whites is this country for their green card? You are just repeating false ideas. We aren’t criminals. We aren’t taking advantage of the system. Undocumented people pay more taxes than most, including your president. Blame the broke now immigration laws, NOT the people affected by it. Of course this doesn’t matter to you, you are just using the term “illegal” because you cannot be overly racist.

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  9. Jae Yoon, if I saw anyone verbally abusing you or anyone threatening you or anyone like the incident you recounted, I would confront them aggressively. It’s practically assault to accost a woman alone in a parking lot and I’d really like to confront that person with what Trump really said. The thing that is really scary is that this person seemed to have personal knowledge about your mother. It makes me furious just to think of it.

    But I don’t think that incident arose from Trump, his platform, or his campaign. It’s truly sad, Jae Yoon, that you’re living in fear, but you would have substantially less fear if you had actually watched Trump’s speeches directly, instead of listening to the NBC/CBS/ABC/CNN/NYT crowd. Trump never mentioned LGBTQ or gay marriage in any speech he ever gave. Never. His campaign manager was a woman. He explicitly embraced increases in legal immigration, and never spoke of deporting legal immigrants. On race, not only did his campaign heavily rely on Ben Carson, the black neurosurgeon, but you always saw a substantial number of “blacks for Trump.” His every discussion of vetting Muslim immigrants clearly distinguished jihadis from ordinary Muslims, and that’s what the “vetting” was for. You’re young. You haven’t heard the cries of Nazi, bigot, sexist, tyrant, homophobe and dire warnings of persecution and oppression raised by the Democrats and the legacy news media about every Republican candidate for forty years. All these accusations have to be scrutinized before they are believed. Having watched a large number of Trump speeches in their entirety over the last two months, I see those accusations as ill-informed and incorrect.

    What’s sadly ironic is that you are actually expressing more prejudicial condemnation when you claim “There is true hatred and prejudice harbored by so many Americans. This sudden influx of hateful rhetoric is not a foreign notion to this country. Racism, for many decades, has been hidden behind closed doors.” I don’t judge Koreans, Muslims, Italians, or others as a group, let alone ascribe monolithic evil motives to them. Why do you? Whatever happened to the idea that “labels are for jars, not for people”?

    Finally, I’m watching Trump like a hawk. I voted Trump but I will never trust Him or any elected official. These government offices bring with them a lot of pressures and temptations that push people away from their campaign stances. When that happens I write and protest. That’s being an active citizen in a democracy.

    – Andrew Wolfe

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  10. Our family, of Hispanic heritage, couldn’t believe the news. Our hearts break thinking of what the minorieties living legally or illegally in this country must be feeling. But as a mother I needed to tell my daughter that everything will be ok as long as she keeps fighting for what she thinks is right, and respects the values that we had encourage her all her life. I wasn’t surprised to know she went on a protest the next day to show a sign of unity and support for the gay, Muslim, Hispanic, and overall every American who now has to deal with reality.
    I told her to pray for a united country. I also told her “sometimes protest don’t change the way things are…”
    God Bless America

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    1. The above comment makes me angry. NO ONE who is in their right mind should shoot another because of who they Voted for in the Election.

      I am afraid that I would be shot with this person if I had been there. I am a Trump Supporter but I have fought physically and stood beside minorities since before Martin Luther was assinated. I still cry when I see the Docementaries of him marching and being shot.

      I am Native American (BIA and Tribal IDs). I know about being a minority I was the first generation born off the Imdian Lands.

      Trump does not support racism….concerning Immigrants that are not documented, he cannot possibly send all of them home, most are known. What he wants to do, And I agree with, is stop new border smashers from entering so we have a system that is followed. I also agree with sending back illegal entry persons who are convicted felons.

      Which of any of those categories affects you or you disagree with?

      Don’t believe the grand statements made during Campaiging by both sides. Unfortunately the Democrats side made a lot of people feel threatened who would never be questionable.

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  11. I will keep you in my prayers and hope that someone close to you can comfort you. Do not be afraid! but do take a FB break if that is upsetting you. No one is going to take legal voting rights away from you – that generation quote is totally false. But if we don’t respect the democratic process, in the end, we all lose. What I have seen missing from all the BU posts for self help is the call to prayer. On campus, Marsh Chapel is the original place to take your sorrows and find peace. Give your concerns to the Lord and He will answer. In Peace Always,

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    2. Dear BU Mom Family

      I pray that God will hold each one of you in His loving arms while you grieve. I pray the killer is brought to justice. I pray for their loss and hopes thatbwere ended when the life of their loved one was taken.

      As a Citizen. I pray for your healing and emptiness. This was a senseless and horrible act. I grieve with you.

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  12. Thank you for your eloquent statement describing what I fear as well. I am a white, American, Catholic woman, and I fear the exact same things that you state. I find it extremely disturbing that many who boast of being “Christian” and “love Jesus” seem to hate anyone who is different. This country was built from immigrants – we all immigrated from somewhere, or our ancestors did unless you are Native American. If our president-elect wants to remove all immigrants, then the only people with a true right to be in America are the Native Americans. Just my 2 cents!

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  14. All of this anti-Trump protesting makes absolutely no sense to me. Learn from the mistakes made by the Democratic party. Half of the country is sick and tired of being told how to feel and what is okay and what is not okay. There are not 50 million racists in this country. But there is a good chunk of the country that is tired of pandering and wussification of our great country. To the original poster, you are entitled to your opinion and I respect it but am entitled to mine. In my opinion, anti-Trump protesting is a gross over-reaction and is only driving the other half further away. I am disgusted by my generation. Whining is for babies. If you wanted it different, you should have done more to help your candidate’s campaign.

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    2. Hello Andrew!

      Thanks for your comment and thank you for your feedback after reading my article.

      I am just reaching out to say that back home in NY, I both canvased and partook in a phone bank to call possible supporters. As a student, that is, largely, the fullest extent of support I could have provided Hillary during her campaign.

      I understand that you have your personal feelings towards anti-trump protestors. But, I would like to remind you of the protest that took place and the effigies burned when Barack Obama took office back in 2008.

      I definitely agree with you, however, that there are not 50 million racists in this country. But there are 50 million people in this country who did not see racism, sexism, and xenophobia as an issue while voting for a candidate.

      If millions of people across the country are protesting, maybe it would be worth it to see what they’re “whining” about.

      Again, Andrew, thank you for your opinion and feedback!

      Jae

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  15. I have read enough of this sucking your thumbs and I’m scared stuff.

    Here’s the difference between Liberals and Conservatives.

    Democrats and far Left want to blame everyone else. All I’ve read seems to be sucking pacifier babies scared of living in the world that things don’t always go your way. It not your fault from cradle to University you’ve been cuddled and hidden from reality therefore how can you possibly embrace real life?

    Conservatives are the generation brought up when Bible scriptures were part of life, law was respected, inventions of the determined made life better, and when people were threatened by “bad” governments we fought to protect and sometimes free them. We were the “Can do” generations who bucked up and pulled together to get the work done.

    That’s how different the Conservatives and Other groups have become. Conservatives don’t riot, and tear people apart, they don’t roll up
    And suck their thumbs in fear. They are the ines who fought for what you enjoy now. Apparently we did too good of a job because none of us would want to hear any of you acting like hurt, scared, whimsy babies!

    Wake up guys sooner or later the country and our place in the world will be your responsibility. You better toughen up and be able to keep us free. You can’t do that sucking your thumbs!

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  16. I am a parent from California. When my daughter was in high school the INS came to our town one day and started rounding up illegal immigrants, many of whom had legal children who were at school that day. When the children came home from school their parents were gone, some never to return. It was horrifying. Other parents of all nationalities and ethnicities made food and stayed with kids until arrangements could be made for their care. That is what Donald Trump is proposing will happen all over America. Many of the illegal people are fleeing horrific situations in their own country with El Salvadore and Guatmala being among the worst in Central America, situations created largely by the US. Our cleaning lady, who is legal, went to El Salvadore to rescue her three toddler granddaughters after their mother was killed. Another granddaughter who she didn’t get out was kidnapped, raped and murdered last year. That is what is driving illegal immigration in our area and if you claim to be religious and can’t feel compassion for these situation you need to look deeper into your soul.

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  17. Jae Yoon,

    I applaud you for voicing your fears and sentiment towards what has transpired these past several months. I also apologize for what you and your family has had to go through.

    I myself am an immigrant from Odessa, Ukraine and am a Jew as well. I would identify myself as a White Caucasian as would probably anyone who sees me and wouldn’t recognize me as a Jew or an immigrant. I should be recognized as a “normal” human being. As should anyone else in this country.

    My parents sacrificed a lot for my brother and I to come to this country in order to have a better and prosperous future. We came with nothing but the clothes on our backs and a couple of suitcases. We had to learn a new language and assimilate into a new culture. We had to accept that in order to make it and preserve.

    That is what we did. We learned English, I currently speak without an accent, and my parents worked above and beyond to provide for my brother and I. They bought a home for us anf moved us to a great “Jewish” suburb of Boston with an excellent school system.

    Though enough about me and my life. I just want to say that even though it may seem the country is spiraling into chaos and disarray, it will only happen if we allow it to.

    You see, the fact is the biggest threat is the fact that Donald Trump is our new President elect. The biggest problem is that there isn’t a a Democratic majority lead congress in either the house of reps or in the Senate to balance out Trump and his agenda, whatever that maybe. Also he has the power to appoint the next Supreme Court Justice which is also unfortunate.

    That fact is, Trump still has no straight forward agenda. He has put some ideas on the table in order to rally up support for his campaign. The thing is, there isn’t any certainty that he will be able to follow through with anything that he has promised.

    Also, keep in mind that we live an a democratic state. There is more openess and acceptance here in Massachusetts, especially here in Boston (a city full of some of the world’s best universities and minds alike), so there should be less to fear.

    Please remember that one man can not control the destiny of a country, unless you are in Russia or North Korea, then you are screwed. Lol. Sorry.

    If there are any actions taken by the Trump administration that threatens the safety and the future of our country, we can always stand united to oppose it, and we will not be alone in the process because other global leaders have already voiced their concerns and views and will stand with the American people if there is something that would threaten the sanctity of our great nation.

    My last word of advice to you Jae Yoon would be to be bold, brave, brash, and to stand up for yourself. My parents taught me that there will always be people that will try to bring you down. Known that you are bigger and better than they are. They may intimidate, threaten, and bully you, but know that you are not alone in this and there are more individuals out there that would support and defend you.

    Don’t give up!! I know that I won’t give up. Too much was sacrificed for me to leave this country now. It is up to us as a people, not Donald Trump, to make some changes in the country.

    Lets start to make changes at the local level with cities and towns, then move onto the State level, and finally to the federal level.

    Let’s get to work. The future is in our hands. Never give up hope!!!

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  18. I am a Sri Lankan because my native country is Sri Lanka and I’m a buddhist. I believe that where ever the people who are living with helping each other in the world they will protect by nature, we have to appreciate and cultivate that quality of human being. If not a person is considering the black, white or fare colour of skin it means useless.That is not happening among the wised community. We all together love to nature it will back protect our lives. United State of America was built from immigrants.You all immigrated from somewhere, or your ancestors did unless you are Native American. President elected and he wants to remove all immigrants, It will never happen then the only people with a true right to be in America are the Native Americans. same manner apply whole over the world.Blessing the peace and calm with nobble of triple gems to you all….!

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  19. I’ve talked to many people in “middle America” and they seem to want two things, one is a moratorium on all immigration for a few years in order to have a handle on how many immigrants we really have here already and second I think they desire forour national government to return to the earlier model where both Democrats and Republicans work together to resolve our national issues.

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