America has come full circle with Donald Trump's election

On Saturday afternoon in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I stood in front of a crowd of a few hundred Americans protesting against the election of Donald Trump. I told them that I - an Arab, Muslim, immigrant did not feel safe - in the country. But that's not the whole story.

I am frightened by what a Trump presidency would look like and the ways in which it has and will further embolden racists and bigots who - due to lax gun laws - are armed to the teeth.

However, my fears and insecurities are located in the context of a centuries old system of oppression, which is now attempting to victimise me.

I am not Native American - a community that has been subjected to genocide, displacement, brutalisation - marginalisation and a catalogue of other injustices for the past five hundred years.

I am not part of the community that is killed by US police forces at a higher rate than any other community in this country, but receives barely any news coverage or public outrage.

I am not Renee Davis, the 23-year-old pregnant Native American woman shot dead by Police in Washington State.

I am not 27-year-old Loreal Tsingine who was shot five times by a police officer in Winslow, Arizona after she allegedly shoplifted a case of beer.

I am not African-American. My ancestors were not stolen and enslaved, left to die on cramped ships, then terrorised into slavery. I did not experience lynch mobs and burning crosses at my front door.

I am an Arab, Muslim, immigrant who was only able to stand before that crowd and write these words due to centuries of community struggle, organising, mobilisation and hard earned rights.

I am not one of the countless black men and women being gunned down on sight by police forces across the country with complete impunity.

I am not a Central American refugee forced out of my home by violence and instability partially caused by US actions.

I have not had to travel through Mexico, deal with people smugglers and violence, only to be detained in sub-human conditions in an Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre.

I am not a child or a mother held against my will at a family detention centre and threatened with deportation to a country, which I fled for my safety.

I am not one of the 2.4 million people who were deported by the Obama administration between 2009 and 2014, and the millions more threatened with imminent deportation by the country's new president-elect.

I am an Arab, Muslim, immigrant who was only able to stand before that crowd and write these words due to centuries of community struggle, organising, mobilisation and hard-earned rights.

It is true that my community has been viciously maligned and is currently under immense threats, however, we still enjoy the relative privilege of having our voices heard through a plethora of media outlets and our causes championed by numerous rights organisations.

The reality is this: Donald Trump and his movement are, in many ways, as American as they get.

It is true that Muslims in America - especially women - have suffered harassment, intimidation and violence, which will most likely only escalate in the weeks and months to come.

However, it is also true that as a community, we have immensely benefitted from the battles fought by others, especially the civil rights movement.

Throughout the recent election campaign, a lot of the opposition to Donald Trump and the fascist views he espoused has been centered on the argument that he threatens the US, its values, its history and the ideals of its founding fathers.

The reality is this: Donald Trump and his movement are - in many ways - as American as they get. They are a 21st century reflection of the dispossession and genocide on which the history of the US rests.

They are a reflection of the cognitive dissonance of white European men who wrote about the lofty "inalienable rights" of man while simultaneously owning other men and women as slaves.

They are the true reflection of the American empire that has ravaged large sections of the world while repeating the false mantra of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Donald Trump's electoral win should force us to recognise the oppression at the heart of the US political experiment, because he represents the fruition of the racist, xenophobic, exploitative project that was set in motion from America's very founding.  

Trump's election is also an opportunity for us to tap into the parallel history of this land in which genocide, dispossession, racism, slavery and violence were, and continue to be, intensely resisted by resilient communities.

Follow Mohammad Ali Musawi on Twitter @malimusawi