I’m a Warwick student living in America, and I’m anxious

I’m a third year History student, currently having the time of my life on a year abroad at Northern Arizona University. It’s extremely different to what you’d expect Arizona to be. I live in the mountains, it’s meant to snow soon and we don’t have a Starbucks for every other shop.

But, where we do differ is in the political views of the town. Flagstaff and the county that it resides in, Coconino, is typically a very liberal county. In a Republican stronghold, where John McCain wins his position in the Senate time and time again, Flagstaff is represented by Democrat views. It makes me anxious for the town and how it will react to the fact that the Republican candidate, Donald  Trump, has been successful in his campaign to become the 45^th President of the United States.

Americans truly want to make America great again!

Since landing in the USA, the election has been the hottest topic. I got to my hotel in Phoenix and was immediately bombarded with adverts for John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The venom that comes out of both sides is unbelievable, both using the incapabilities of each other to promote themselves, rather than the good work they can do.  Even in lesson, we’re constantly asked how we feel in regards to the political candidates. The savagery between the candidates has been on a colossal scale. Now we know that Donald is President-elect, I can’t help but feel that this will only escalate, and 2017 will be the year of Hillary being on trial for those god-damn emails that have penetrated his whole election campaign.

Without wanting to use puns, Trump has built a wall between people. When the election results came tumbling in, my social media blew up like never before. Friends on both sides of the pond were chipping in with their viewpoints, using conjectural articles and statements that candidates had said in order to prove their point creating tension between people who had previously been good friends.

Nobody seemed truly happy. According to friends who want to remain anonymous, they said that Trump’s campaign of “making America “great” again is really alluding to making America “white” again”. Whilst I know people who voted Trump as they felt so anti-Clinton that they could not justify voting Democrat, it’s hard to see a future right now for America which will be as tolerable of different cultures as what currently exists under the end of Obama’s tenure. Nobody seems truly happy.

Trying to have fun at an election party!

One thing I can’t quite fathom even more than the fact that Trump won is the fact that 11,000 people voted for Harambe. Harambe is a dead gorilla. I appreciate the tribulations at the end of this gorilla’s life, but it’s votes such as these which make a mockery of the already flawed American political system.

I’m anxious for what could immediately happen. Riots are already happening across the country, in which crowds are burning the American flag and chanting “Not Our President!” I feel for these people. Whereas I’m only in America for a finite amount of time, the repercussions of a Trump presidency will be felt in communities forevermore.

I wanted us to be Stronger Together. Will this be the case under Trump?

Deep down, I knew that Donald Trump would win. I knew the Republicans would win. I didn’t want it to be the case, yet the anxiety of the silent majority has spoken. People want their country safe and secure. I can see why people voted for Trump, even though I don’t necessarily agree with the ‘policies’ he advocates.

We’ll just have to wait until 20^th January and Inauguration Day, where we see out Obama and welcome a man whose most famous saying is ‘You’re Fired’. I wonder how many foreign people he’ll say that to.

@ellensoph