Have We Really Progressed?

The year of 2016 has been an eye opener for many people who had believed or assumed that as a society we made some progress. This was torn apart mostly by the 2016 presidential election which presented a clear message that someone who represents the opposite of multiculturalism and progressive ideals that North America is supposed to be built on the idea of Freedom and democracy. Increasingly, those in power continue efforts to restrict and control the lives of groups like women, racial and ethnic minorities, and those in vulnerable positions. Trump being elected sends a message everywhere that we don't care about women having equal rights and being able to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive rights,  we don't care about the insane number of people in the black community being shot down on the daily while being unarmed, or about the huge number of immigrants that have grown up in the states but fear them and their families being deported.

What is democracy if its systems are only run by a concentrated groups of rich white males? How is a democracy fair when it is rigged to only benefit those in control?

The media adds to this discourse being spread in our communities because of the normalization of racial class. If a terrorist act is committed by a white American, the news coverage claims this person had a mental illness and disputes theories as to how they were triggered by something else. If a racial minority like a black, or muslim person commits the same crime, they speak of their dangerous nature and how its their "culture" or race. As if they have a separate culture from those living in the same country. Yes faith can determine someone's views and values, but that is often times not the reason a mentally ill person would commit those kinds of crimes. This type of language and rhetoric is what divides people and breeds anger and animosity rather than acceptance. In my opinion, it is this type of division that created a situation where someone like Donald Trump could be deemed as an acceptable president.