With the controversies festering on only Day 3 of Donald Trump’s presidency, and the heated disputes between the liberals and the Republicans, here is the perspective of a conservative turned liberal.

I live in a conservative republican household. Growing up, I was fed conservative ideas, which I can’t blame my parents for at all; every parent wants to see themselves in their children.

But it wasn’t until this year that I started to think for myself.

Not too long ago, we had to listen to a podcast for Journalism and present a powerpoint in hopes of persuading our peers to listen to our choice.

I chose “On Being” with Krista Tippet, an NPR podcast, and I can say that listening to this podcast opened my eyes to the fact that I wanted to be my own person with my own beliefs, aspirations and ideas about the world. Coincidentally, it got me thinking about politics and how I felt about national affairs. This was the first time that I was not thinking about how my parents felt about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, but how I felt about them.

After doing a hefty amount of research, I realized that Trump was not the name that I wanted my country to be branded with. If you had asked me in November who I was going to vote for, I would have without a doubt said Trump because that’s what parents would have wanted to hear me say.

Although my political views may have changed, my moral views have not.

And this is why the post-election riots that have taken place don’t seem to me to be a practice of our rights. Before Trump’s election, many democratic supporters would often wield buttons, bumper stickers, or other paraphernalia that would include the slogan, “Love Trumps Hate,” which is an amazing statement.

But in the aftermath of the election, those same people have taken part in dangerous riots in which Trump supporters have been brutally attacked, demonstrators have lit trash cans on fire, and people set fire to the American flag.

This isn’t love.

Burning a symbol of our freedom and the people who died for that coveted freedom is not making a statement, it’s disrespecting our nation’s veterans. Kidnapping a young disabled teenage boy, beating him senseless, and forcing him to drink toilet water isn’t love. Endangering the lives of our citizens because we are not pleased with our President is not love. I completely understand the discontent and disbelief of the Democratic party upon the results of the election, but when are we going to start acting like Americans again?  

This violence and hatred is not only driving the two political parties further apart, but it’s dividing the American people. How can we focus on the future of our nation if we can’t even move past the election itself?

In his Farewell Speech, Barack Obama urged Americans to come together as a nation and remain standing and unwavering in this time of uncertainty. He asked that we supply our President-Elect with the benefit of the doubt and hope that he will carry out the American ideals.

Women fear that they will lose their right of choice for their bodies, immigrants fear that they will be deported, the LGBTQ community fears that they will lose their right to marry the people they love, and refugees fear limited admittance to the United States from their war-ridden countries.

As a nation, we need to come together and put an end to the fear that is dividing us. We must stand united in this quandary and remember the words of President Obama, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America … there is the United States of America.”

We are one, and it’s time to start acting like it.