By Emilee Rae Hibshman

Special to the Salisbury Post

This past election has many people on their toes. I have read countless articles with phrases along the lines of “calm down” and “we’ll be fine no matter what.” I disagree. There are many controversial topics that our new president, Donald J. Trump, has approached with no sensitivity.

In the past two years alone, Trump has used his time in the spotlight to express his disdain against immigrants, John McCain, Megyn Kelly, The Wall Street Journal, Muslims, women, the LGBTQ+ community, Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act and Hillary Clinton

He knew that, no matter what he said or did, his followers would remain loyal. As he said in January 2016, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Trump has also used his power to attack the media, immigrants and all of the progress made in the past eight years by President Barack Obama. Trump has stood on the platform of the Republican Party and raked his own name through the mud.

Though Trump is now our nation’s president, the country has not rallied behind him. The United States of America is more separated than before the election began. There are hate crimes, racial slurs  and countless videos online of people committing acts of discrimination in his name. We are taking steps backward  from the equality many have worked so hard for.

As a high school junior born in 2000, and a female, I have been put down for my opinions. My generation is often ridiculed for not agreeing with our parents’ beliefs. However, this election is one of the most important ones in my lifetime. It will affect my financial aid for college, the job market I will enter and the housing market and economy when I will buy a house and start a family. This is why many teenagers have tuned in to the election and the presidency of Donald Trump. We are concerned and afraid of how it may affect our lives.

As an environmental activist, I oppose Trump’s plan to complete the Keystone Pipeline. This is very detrimental to our environment. The oil used from the pipeline will increase carbon emissions, which is very harmful to our already weak atmosphere and will reverse  efforts to slow climate change, something most Republicans do not even believe exists.

Another central aspect of Trump’s campaign was immigration. He wants to deport all illegal immigrants in the country. Aside from the incredibly high costs of mass deportation and the fact that it’s nearly impossible, it would actually hurt, not help, the economy.

While immigrants do take jobs, they also use goods and services that create economic activity and more jobs. This situation is similar to graduates entering the workforce. They are new so they take jobs, but they also have to pay for food, rent, bills, etc. This stimulates the economy.

If money and logistics were not an issue, we could remove the immigrants, which would open up jobs, but it would also decrease the number of jobs produced by the economic activity they create.

In summary, I disagree very strongly with the statements that “we will be fine” coming from the other journalists out there. The Trump presidency has already caused protests and negative response from people who voted against him.

I believe Trump’s presidency will be like inhaling a ball of smoke from a fire; it will leave America coughing and trying to catch its breath.

Emilee Hibshman is a junior at Salisbury High School.