Peaceful protests have sprung up in various cities across the country in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump winning the 2016 Presidential Election.
Many people across the country feel that the election of Donald Trump puts them at risk of losing the things they hold dear. Some students at Tallahassee Community College have joined in the protests because they feel as if they could lose their loved ones, health care, and personal safety.
“I could lose my friends [and] I could lose my happiness,” said Nikki Mendez, a TCC student. “I can lose my right to choose and I can lose my health care. If he defunds Planned Parenthood I could lose my pap smears, get cancer and lose my life.”
Mendez was one of hundreds of protesters at the Florida Historic Capitol Museum on Nov. 16 standing against President-elect Donald Trump.
“I’m just expressing my First Amendment right and not staying silent,” said Mendez. “I refuse to stay silent about things I don’t agree with.”
Despite the fear many people now feel for their futures, many more refuse to stay silent.
“I refuse to be silenced out of fear,” said Gabrielle Figueroa, a student of TCC who feels a Trump presidency puts her safety at risk. “I’m going to be who I am.”
Figueroa, like many others, feels that President-elect Trump has increased hatred in the country.
“I am part of the LGBT community, I am a minority, and I am a female. I am so many of the things that he attacks personally,” said Figueroa. “It’s really difficult to find myself in the middle of this.”
Hate crime reports in the United States have risen since Donald Trump’s election and their increasing numbers often strengthen the worries of women, minorities, and the LGBT community.
“I think it’s really unfair that people have to start acting out of fear, removing their hijabs because they are in public and don’t want to be attacked, or not telling people that they are part of the LGBT community. Taking precautions to protect themselves in a world where they shouldn’t have
to,” said Figueroa. “I’m going to stand up for what I think is right and that’s what it’s going to take.”
The protests stem not only from Donald Trump’s behavior and platform, but also from the manner in which he won the election.
The Electoral College, a system created to decide the outcome of elections, assigns each state a number of Electoral Votes determined by their population. The winner of a state receives all of that state’s Electoral Votes. The candidate who receives at least 270 Electoral Votes wins the election.
Problems can arise when the Electoral Votes don’t correlate with the popular vote–the number of votes cast by everyday Americans.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton won the popular vote cast by citizens of the United States, but lost the election due to Electoral Vote total.
Craig Whittington, a former TCC History professor, said that the Electoral College does not represent the views of the American people.
“As far as the entire election, I honestly said Hillary Clinton was just as bad as Trump in different ways,” said Whittington. “But Hillary won the popular vote. The Electoral College is not a representation of the democracy we have here.”
Many protesters feel that their marching will have no effect on keeping the President-elect out of the White House but will let Trump know that they disown his “hate-based platform.”
“If this administration is dead-set on carrying out Islamophobia, it’s programs against Mexican-Americans, Latino Americans, LGBT communities, then our voices need to be heard or else we’re nothing but bystanders,” said Whittington.
While the protests have been met with both scrutiny and support, protests are expected to continue through Inauguration Day.
“Protests like these are what we need to do right now to get our voices heard, to let the new administration know that we are against a lot of the policies that they ran on,” said Whittington. “Trump and his Cabinet will be well aware of what’s going on.”
