President, Donald J. Trump has taken on a lengthy list of executive orders and legislative actions in his first days as president; but his actions, although fulfilled, have caused a mixed reaction. Everyday since the inauguration men, women and children of all races and religions have worked together to stand up, speak out, and march in both favor and opposition of Trump’s new policies.
In the past month of the new year, the United States has seen radicalizing change after President Obama’s eight year term ended, and Donald Trump overtook the office. He was inaugurated on the 20th alongside his Vice PResident Mike Pence, surrounded by Trump supporters excited to “Make America Great Again.” But on the next day, a different crowd was beginning to arise all around the world. More than 3.3 million people from all seven continents marched for women’s right and alongside social equality for other causes; this was the Women’s March.
“All of these people are given technical rights but are they still discriminated against? Absolutely. Do we still have racial tension? Yes. Do we still have a homophobic society sometimes? Yes. So equality is what society does with the words of the law, giving you the rights unconditionally, rather than having it just on paper. It’s putting it into practice,” Lauren White said.
One of President Trump’s first Executive Orders, the Muslim Ban, came only a week later and another series of protests arose in airports nationwide. Volunteer lawyers would find themselves huddled together, clinging to charging outlets as they attempted to represent Muslims whose citizenship was threatened. No matter what an individual may believe about the political atmosphere in present day America, few can disagree about the presence of division and conflicting ideals of what America’s future should look like.
“I’m all for [the march]” senior, Blaise White said. “Mainly because standing up for stuff that is being threatened such as human rights just in general, LGBT rights, gender equality, racial equality, worker’s rights, immigration reform, healthcare reform, and environmental protection are all valid.”
Several days later, Vice President Pence came to speak at another protest that was occurring- the March for Life. Here, advocates campaigned for pro-life decisions.
“We should stop funding [Planned Parenthood]…morally, my tax dollars shouldn’t go to fund Planned Parenthood,” senior, David Keener said.
Similarly, other students felt confused as to why the march occurred at all as the culmination of causes led to a confusion of purpose.
“I’m all for them protesting. They can do what they want, but what did it really accomplish? We still have Trump as President” senior, Brandon Cooper said.
However, for the majority the cause of the marches was not to reject President Trump, but to reject bias and disrespect for diversity in a nation built on variance. The peaceful protestors are not fighting to see the country fail, but are instead wishing for their rights to be honored in their country, their home. A protest gives a voice to voiceless people.
“My family and I personally were only there to protect our rights, not speak out against our new president. Discrimination of all kinds is still very much an issue, and some people are simply too blind to see the truth. If you believe it was primarily to speak out against Trump, you would only be half right.” sophomore, Sarah Talmage said.
For others, the protests are only a result of decades of mounting social tension, with Trump’s bluntness acting as the perfect reason to voice cries for justice.
“The difference between protests and riots of the day of the inauguration. Those are completely separate things run by completely different groups,” Blaise said. “[The protests] showed senators and congressmen that the point of it wasn’t to remove Trump from office, it was to get the ideas that they all shared out into the world instead of having a lot of separate causes. They were networking and allowing everyone to see what five million people believe in. When senators and congressmen see that they are forced to take these views into account.”
The exercise of freedom of speech is energetic currently, and as such the people somehow find unity in the division.
“[The marches] have united women and those who help speak with us and for us. They have united women all over the world to tell everyone else that ‘We Can.’ However, those who believe women do not deserve rights or believe we have all of them already, have been divided from us,” Talmage said.
In the past struggles of our nation, from the civil rights movement to the LGBT struggle to the suffrage movement, ordinary people were called to fight to receive the change they sought out for. So as we, the people, live and anticipate under a Trump dominated America, one must query how history has changed, and whether or not America is simply repeating previous controversies, or if the people’s voices can actually inspire change the way they once did in the past.
“Many protesters would be disgusted with the fact that 50 years later the same things are still being fought for. Women in 2016 should not have to stand up for their rights. We should be given them, we are human beings and have a place in society that is just as equal to men,” Talmage said.