Dear America, stop it.

Dear America,

Stop it. Just stop it.

To the Hillary Clinton supporters who are part of the riots including violence and vandalism, stop it. I get that you’re upset and angry and scared. I understand the depths of your despair and your concerns about what this means for America’s future. But breaking storefront windows and setting things on fire and defacing property isn’t the solution.

To the Donald Trump supporters who are gloating, even taunting, those who did not support your candidate, you are only adding to the problem. You’re fueling the divide. It’s okay to celebrate that the candidate you supported was elected. It’s not okay to demean those whose beliefs don’t align with yours. The whole “kick ‘em when they’re down” mentality is akin to bullying, and it’s just not right.

The rest of the world is watching our civil unrest.

They are seeing the videos of the violent protests, and don’t necessarily understand that these represent a small sliver of the total population. Undoubtedly, those who despise America and all that we stand for are seeing this dissension as the opportunity they have long awaited to take our country down. They see cracks in our unity and are celebrating the divide.

That’s something we all need to take very seriously.

The bottom line is that we are all Americans. Our views differ. Our beliefs differ. But the freedoms we are afforded as Americans are far greater than the beliefs and policies of any individual—including those of our President.

The beauty of our democracy is that no individual holds the power to act alone. Policies, laws, amendments and appeals are all governed by our Congress, the people we have entrusted to be our voices and our representatives when decisions are made.

President Elect Trump has said and done a lot of things with which I disagree, many of which were totally unacceptable and inappropriate. Despite such, he was elected through our democratic process to be our next leader. Those who are not his supporters don’t have to like it. But they do have to accept it.

Our nation’s future depends on it.