I just realized that. This election is bigger than republican vs democrat, Clinton vs Trump, even the Supreme Court — this election is about much more than that — the most evil and awful of all — hate.
I don’t know why I didn’t realize the depth of the message earlier, especially when we watched the Democratic convention that let the world see a sea of “Love trumps hate” signs. I don’t know why it didn’t crystallize after Hillary delivered her speech about Breitbart and alt-right being at the core of Trump’s message. But yesterday it became absolutely clear to me that we have finally entered the phase in this election when the real meaning of this election, the purpose which Clinton campaign understood and embraced, is to defeat the message of the deplorable: racist, xenophobic, homophobic agents of hate.
I’m surprised at myself, a person of color, and an immigrant, that I could not articulate this point so clearly before. I’ve always felt that way but for some reason I could not find the proper words to define what’s at stake in a simple answer. I know what that answer is now. Hate must be defeated this election as strongly as we can as a nation, as people, as fellow human beings to ensure that it does not stay the norm it has become in during this campaign.
To me this election is of existential importance. I know what will happen to people like me if Trump were to win. I really do not want to spell it out because even thinking about brings extreme pain. So with that understanding the choice should be clear: you are either for hate or against it. Those who support Trump and his message of hate (loudly or silently) say so much about who they are as people. To me they are not just Trump supporters, republicans or conservatives — they are (whether they want to admit it or not) the enablers of hate. And those who fail to accept the importance of what’s at stake for us by choosing a “more pure” third or forth choice still fail everyone whom these hateful groups want to hurt and will act as enablers of hate too. As people we’ve come to a fork in the road and must make the choice. I hope you vote Love.