With the transfer of power to the new Biden/Harris administration, some have asked how it will affect People of Color (POC), whether that effect be positive, or negative. We will need to see. After Barack Obama’s two-term presidency ended, Donald Trump succeeded him, promising to make life better for all Americans. Unfortunately, a long four years of suffering for people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ ensued.

Multiple studies state that a large percentage of the deaths within the black community were unarmed and shot by either police, or a white male in 2020 alone, not to mention the several acts of domestic terrorism carried out by zealots. This is due to the past four years of Trump’s presidency.  POC and members of the LGBTQ+ community have faced an enormous amount of prejudice perpetuated by the former leader of our free world. The encouragement by someone so impressionable, has led to the uprising of several white supremacist groups. 

 Trump’s radical ideals led bigots to believe that their discriminatory actions were just, and that if you were anything other than a straight white male, your opinion was invalid, or that you were just less of a person that they were. With Trump in office, the bigots that were previously in hiding, got the chance to come out and be open with their radical ideals without punishment or fear of contradiction.  

This election affected POC and the LGBTQ+ community because we could no longer have someone like Trump in office. When it was revealed that President Elect Joseph Biden had won, both minority groups rejoiced in hopes that these next four years would prove to be beneficial for both communities. It gave both groups hope that America could be great for all Americans. It also gave them hope that equality could be achieved with the right leader. We needed someone to take control of this pandemic that had been blatantly ignored by our former president. This is how the election has affected POC and the LGBTQ+ community, it gave us hope, something we had lost under the last presidency.