Election Night was one of the scariest nights in my life. I couldn’t even bring myself to check the polls because I was scared of what I would see. Everyone was so confident that Hillary would win, but once the states voted, most of the map was red.

In past elections, people were never scared of the candidates. Some of them were undesirable, but people weren’t scared of them. People are scared of Donald Trump. We are scared of what his policies could do to women, Muslims, people of color, and the LGBTQA+ community; anyone who isn’t a straight, old, white man.

We are scared because we don’t know. He hasn’t been clear at all on his policies, and once January rolls around, he becomes a complete wild card with a Republican Congress behind him.

People are most scared of the unknown. Everything about Trump’s presidency is unknown. He’s made numerous promises, like repealing ObamaCare and going to war against ISIS, but what other plans does he have that the American people don’t know about? And more importantly, how does he plan to do the things that he’s promised?

But that’s not even the scariest thing about Trump being our president. His beliefs and comments on minorities and women allow sexist, racist, and homophobic people to freely express their beliefs. Just a day after he was announced president, the hate towards these communities has skyrocketed. LGBTQA+ youth and others are having to hide who they are once again, African-Americans all across the U.S. are facing racial slurs, Muslims are scared of expressing their religion in any way, immigrants are in fear of being deported, and women are living in fear of getting attacked. It feels as if we have traveled back in time. No longer are we in a time of acceptance; now we live in a time where fear rules the nation.

I am scared for my life. I am scared because if I walk down the street alone one night, my parents may never see me again. I am scared because if I love a woman, I may be sent to conversion therapy and be threatened on the streets. I am scared for my friends who aren’t white, who are afraid to express their culture because America is so racist. Aren’t we supposed to be the melting pot of the world? Shouldn’t we be accepting other cultures rather than insulting and degrading them?

Since America’s foundation, we have not had a woman president. We haven’t even had a woman vice-president. The first African-American president was only elected in 2008. Donald Trump is going to take all of the progress that we have made and throw it out the window. We have gone from electing an African-American president to electing a racist bigot. We take two steps forward and 50 steps backwards. He wants to isolate America, make it into his personal kingdom where the only free people are straight white men. It feels as if he is creating an empire of anger and fear, unleashing it on everyone who opposes him.

But we, as the American people, cannot lose hope. He is an awful person and has the potential to be an awful president. But we should do everything in our power to combat the anger and hate. Keep smiling in the face of sadness. Fight for those who don’t have a voice. Don’t be a bystander. As Hillary Clinton said in her speech, “I know we have not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.”

We owe it to Clinton to push back the discrimination. Everything she worked so hard for shouldn’t disappear. This is not a dictatorship. We live in a democracy where our voices can be heard. Make your voices heard; don’t let them vanish in the ocean of anger. And most importantly, support your friends and family. In these troubling times, we need to stick together. If we support each other and express love and not hate, we can make it through this. America has survived bad presidents before. Trump isn’t the first and he won’t be the last. If we hold out until the next election, we can make the United States a better place.