OPINION: ‘This is my country, and I will not rest’

By Phillicity Uriarte-Jones
GSS correspondent, Amos Alonzo Stagg High School

STOCKTON, Calif. — I am part of the generation that is simultaneously chastised for not going out to vote while also being too young to vote. One side tells us we did not care enough about the election and the other asks why we care so much. We have been deemed dramatic and oversensitive, too quick to point fingers and too obsessed with social issues.

I am part of the race that has literally been under fire. I cannot count how many times I have watched a man of my color be murdered. How many times I have been personally told I am being selfish and ignorant by supporting #BlackLivesMatter. My silence is seen as a blessing to the blissfully ignorant. Those who have been criticized continuously are embittered, tired of constant persecution from a group that takes a perceived slight as a direct attack on a larger scale.

I am part of a gender that has not only been mocked, objectified and disregarded in this election, but also had the potential to make it into the White House. Our objectification is a driving force in the media. A fight for social equality is the last step to the underlying battle of the sexes in casual day-to-day life.

This needs to change.

Someone who is completely unbothered by the way things are run is the same person who will have nothing to do with real political reform. I vow to make a change. I am not content, but I am not going to gripe about a decision I cannot reverse. We should not need to be scared, but what has this election told us?

That this generation is lazy, and while we may be opinionated, those opinions hold little weight because we do not act on our beliefs.

That there are more racists in this country than previously thought, and that a man endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan is capable of becoming president.

That the equal treatment of women means next to nothing to a shockingly large amount of the U.S. population.

But this will not be the end. This is not the time to give up. This is a time to unite. This is a call to action.

I will be part of a generation that has the strongest political involvement thus far. We will be revolutionary, and I will not rest until these words ring true.

I will be a part of the race that no longer feels the need to create hashtags about their lives having value, or recording their interactions with police officers. The black community will be at peace.

I will be a part of a gender that has done all a man has done. Women are capable, and one woman holding office is not the sole way to show that. Milestones will be reached in due time; normalizing women’s involvement is the only way to get there. We will get there.

And that will all happen regardless of who the president is, regardless of personal feelings about the election.

I am an American. Donald Trump is my elected president, but more importantly, this is my country. I have the freedom to stay here, and as much as I would like to complain, I am a citizen. I have the privilege of being an American, and having someone in charge that I do not like is not going to be the reason I leave. As an American I have my civic duty. I am not going to abandon my country because of a disappointment, and I’m not going to give it to him without making my presence felt and my voice heard.

—Featured photo: People stage a protest against President-elect Donald Trump at the Trump Tower in Chicago on Nov. 9, 2016. Photo by Bilgin S. Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images. Used via Camayak with permission.