This year’s presidential election has been one of the most suspenseful in American history. Many Americans, especially millennials and youth, were at first surprised to see Bernie Sanders not become the Democratic nominee. After a surge of support for him during the primary, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was nominated. Earlier Americans—and the rest of the world—were surprised that business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump had won the Republican Primary.
When he first announced his plans to run for president, Americans didn’t take him seriously because of his background. It was only when he became the nominee of the Republican Party that people realized he was serious.
“If you ever heard the way he speaks about certain topics, you realize how uneducated he is about politics,” freshman college student Mirlange Baptiste told the Amsterdam News. Referencing Trump’s comments about Mexicans, disparaging remarks about Black people, women and veterans, she continued, “It’s surprising to see how far he made it in this election.”
But not only did he become a candidate, after Tuesday’s Nov. 8, 2016, Election Day results, he became the president-elect of the United States.
Political pundits, news anchors and the general public were glued to the incoming results in real time. As they watched the election numbers come in over the course of a long evening, people saw how red the map became. The red states represented the majority of people voting for the controversial Republican candidate. Although the majority of the voters who voted for the candidate Clinton were expected to be Black, Brown and working- and middle-class whites, that was not the case. Returns show that not only did Clinton not do great among potential Black voters nationally, she did poorly with white women, too.
Despite projected polls, rumors in Black neighborhoods predicted that because of poor outreach, and a lack of confidence in the candidate, not a lot of Black Americans came out to vote. “In my opinion, I believe that a lot of Black Americans did not come out to vote because they knew that they were doomed regardless of which candidate was elected,” said Baptiste. “We had to decide between electing a pathological liar or a power-hungry racist. Either way, these candidates’ best interest is not to help the Black community prosper the same way white communities are.”
Baptiste’s comments were widely reflected throughout many campuses in the U.S. Her opinion was also repeated across the internet and mainstream and cable news. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans who did come out and vote elected Donald Trump. Many Americans are devastated and surprised on how a person as divisive as Trump can be elected president. “All we can do as Americans is hope for the best and for the Black communities to finally unite,” said Baptiste.