Looks like worrying about my friends' safety in Trump's America is no longer an abstract proposition.
Posted by
znufrii
Nov 10 '16, 18:51
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"I didn't initially want to share this story. But reading the stories of hate crimes breaking out across our country, initiated by Trump supporters in the wake of their "victory", I feel like I should share.
Election Night, we had some friends over, in anticipation of celebrating a great progressive victory. That victory did not, of course, take place. Instead, like so many of us, our night wore on into the early morning hours, our eyes painfully glued to the ever-worsening news from the electoral map.
The Hudson river is just a couple blocks away from our bldg, and at some point I went for a brief walk along the river to catch some air. I came back home to see that Hillary was conceding to Donald Trump. This body blow sent me right back outside to catch some...sanity? Really anything else but this horrible feeling. This was around 3am. And I'll admit, I brought a plastic cup of beer with me. It was that kind of night.
I got no further than a block from my house, when I passed a man sitting on his stoop who said, "Hey, come here." It's 3am, so, uh, no. I ignored him. He then got up and said, "Come here, you Hillary fag*ot." In my shock, I had a dumb response: "How do you know I'm a Hillary supporter?" I'm not exactly decked out in Hillary campaign paraphernalia. Is it because I looked sad?
He said, "Because I can smell it on you."
Now he lunged at me, and I realized this was a much bigger, much drunker guy than I was. I told him, "Stay the fuck back. I will call the police. Do not come near me." He kept coming at me. He got right in my face and called me a "nig*er,", called me a "nig*er-lover." He shouted that now that Trump has won, it's open season on us. They are going to hunt us down and fuck us up. At this point, I'm so enraged I called him some of my own favorite names, like "bag of shit", and "racist fuckface". All the while I carefully circled around him, planning my escape. It was now obvious he was not planning on that happening, not without me taking a beating first. I confess, I am a small guy with no fighting skills. The block was deserted. I was scared.
He lunged again at me, slamming me in the chest. I retreated and told him, "don't come at me again, or you'll regret it." He came forward again. I said, "don't make another move, or I'll throw my beer in your face."
He took another step, but looked down for a second at the red plastic cup in my hand, brimming with IPA. I took the opportunity to hurl the contents directly into his stupid, Trump-loving, racist face. And then, for safety, I bounced the cup off his nose. And then I turned and ran for dear life. He pursued, but gave up after about 15 feet. I made it home safely.
I'm a privileged American white guy, so I don't believe I can be the victim of a hate crime. But this guy sure was trying to commit one. We live in a liberal neighborhood of a liberal city in deep blue New Jersey, and this fucker, in my own neighborhood, felt comfortable with this behavior and unbelievably hateful language. It was as though beating someone up and shouting racist and homophobic slurs was his PRIZE for Trump winning.
If this can happen here, to someone like me, I cannot fathom what is happening to minorities in red states across this country. I don't ever say this, but God, help us.
Welcome to Trump's America."
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