To my friends and family who didn’t vote for Trump

I know you’re devastated. I am too.

I know you are afraid of what the future holds. So am I.

But I also know that we need to find a way to come together with the other half of the country who didn’t vote the way we did.

We need to stop calling them stupid fools. We need to stop assuming that they are poor, uneducated idiots who voted Trump because they were too stupid to know any better.

We need to talk to them. To ask them, maybe for the first time, why they voted the way they did. And this time, we need to listen. To hear what’s under their fears and distrust.

If you don’t feel like you can reach out to people you know right now, check out the Ask Trump Supporters subreddit. People are talking there. Having open, honest, CIVIL conversations.

We are mad and sad and scared. But so is everyone else, no matter who they voted for.

Calling names, protesting, burning flags: These behaviors do nothing but separate us even more.

If you want to make a difference, stand up against hate. Call out the people you see saying and doing hateful things. And challenge everyone you know to do the same.

If we say we stand for love and against hate, we have to do just that.