Before the election, I was reading a Time for Kids magazine with my 3rd graders. The last page of the magazine had a poll ballot on which the kids could vote for who they wanted to be president.
Across the room I heard comments like, “Oh no not Trump!” Most of them scribbled out his name. Every student voted for Clinton.
After the election, the magazine issue’s cover was a picture of Trump. That day, going through the magazine took 5 extra minutes because the kids were occupied with defacing the cover.
Their reaction had me curious. There are only a handful of minority students in the class. Many households in the area are not only Conservative, but Trump-supporting.
In the third grade, I couldn’t even tell you who the presidential candidates were. This could also be because no one as openly disturbing (Bush admin. is messed up too but still practiced some diplomacy) as Trump.
This last election was a desperate attempt to keep alive a narrative with undertones (and often times - explicit acts) of violence, ignorance, and greed. It was done by flailing arms in the realization that there are only a few last breaths remaining.
But it has only fueled the fire of resistance, unity, and justice across the nation, even among it’s youngest members. From kids scribbling out symbols of oppression to larger communities bearing the worst of the elements to support one another (See: DAPL), the real spirit of America is growing stronger.
And I find it so ironic that people who support Trump and who support measures that impose on people’s civil rights, facilitate violence and destruction in this country and overseas, and put more money into the hands of the wealthy at the expense of those who are already struggling, claim to be preserving America and it’s values.
Do you know what America was founded on? Sacrifice. From Day 1 this country has been about the struggle for a greater good. This country has become what it is because of the fight for independence, abolition of slavery, and countless other causes which protect the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Do you know what it means to fight for something? Do you know what it means to sacrifice? You think an immigrant who puts their life on the line to come to this country and works day in and day out to provide a better life for their family has less of a right to call this country home simply because you were born here? You want to pretend there is nothing wrong with a system that leaves men, women, and children in fear of losing their lives as they walk down the street simply because of the color of their skin or a hood on their head? You can live in acceptance of the fact that you support the funding of the massacre of millions of innocent lives to date in the name of greed?
What you deem to be “Great” is madness. You may have won this round of elections due to an outdated and inequitable system. You may have won at producing the most cringe worthy comics (Seriously right wing propaganda and comics don’t go together it’s like Taylor Swift rapping something is always gonna be off). You may have won as the most hated administration in U.S. history.
But you have not won this country.
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