The 2016 election has come and gone, but the residual fear, anger and discussion are as heated and contentious as the election itself.

Following Donald Trump‘s victory over Hillary Clinton, many people were angry and upset. There have been protests across the country throughout the following days, and many are quick to judge the surge of emotion after the result. People are labeling this discontent as whining, and not accepting the outcome of our election, but this anger, sadness, fear and protest is rightful and deserved.

Many Americans have fair and obvious reasons to be afraid. Black Americans now have a president who has suggested to re-implement “stop and frisk,” a method of police discrimination scarily reminiscent to that of 1930’s Nazi Germany. Hispanic Americans and immigrants now have a president who has called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals, who wishes to destroy their families and communities through deportation. Members of the LGBT communities now have a vice president who has directly led to the suicide of over 25 young LGBT Americans through violent electric shock therapy. Muslim Americans now have a president who labels them as terrorists and wants to ban them from their country. Women now have a president who is a sexual predator and has several rape allegations against him. And we all have a president who denies the facts of climate change, something that will eventually destroy our world, ending our lives prematurely, and if not our children’s lives.

So, to straight white men who are telling these people that they have no reason to be afraid, please try to have some empathy, and understand the plight of these people, a plight that will likely worsen under our new president.

Many people are expressing their fears and worries in different ways, some with protest, some with isolation. Many people, perhaps for humor or perhaps not, are saying that they will leave the country, and move to Canada or elsewhere.

To those telling these scared people to leave, that they don’t deserve to live here, I almost cannot imagine anything more un-American than telling people to leave the country, a country that is meant to be all-accepting.

These people are not saying they want to leave or hide or protest simply because of differing political opinions. They are rightfully afraid for their lives and livelihoods. There is room for compromise in politics, and differing opinions, but racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry will not and cannot be accepted. Racism and bigotry is not an expression of freedom of speech, and we need to stop pretending that people who oppose this are simply unwilling to see another side of a story.

Yes, there is a horizon, and Trump may not be the end of the world. But for the millions of people and Americans who will be directly and negatively affected by his presidency, that horizon looks dark. And we all need to understand appreciate that.