Who knew just opening Facebook would become painful for some of us? Whether it be a family member, friend, or complete stranger, people’s comments after the recent election and inauguration of President Trump are ignorant of a lot of raw feelings.
Before you rush to call me a snowflake, consider this: Nobody wants to be oppressed, and nobody wants special treatment. Every opinion is deep seeded in a much longer, harder fight than you could ever imagine. And this goes for every single group the president has excluded from his “America First.” People do not scream just to scream. There is something much more important there that you cannot even pretend to know, no matter how many posts you write about it.
With that being said, let’s get into some of those posts and hallmark phrases of those who undermine the fights of others. These can pertain to the election and all recent events involving it (inauguration, incidents with the press secretary/Kellyanne Conway, women’s march, etc.).
- “Protesters are overreacting about the election and what President Trump can do.”
Protesters at the Women’s March protested a number of things that involved our president: The right to choice for a woman’s body, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant rights and inclusion, ending police brutality, stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline, and against some of the hurtful and racist things Mr. Trump has said. It is not okay to tell millions of people who have been marginalized for decades that they are overreacting, when the result of animosity towards these groups results in death and destruction of their people and community. This is not a group of people who are just hurt about being bullied by the president (although if that were only it, it would still be a worthy cause). His words actively exclude other groups while catering to one, yet all of these groups still live in America and want to feel American. As for what he can do? Well, just take a look at some of the document’s he’s signed since the inauguration.
- “He’s our president now and there is nothing we can do about that.”
I agree that he is our president now and that any plans to impeach might be a waste of time. However, the most American thing we can do is fight for change when we don’t like something (*cough* King George *cough*). There are plenty of things we can do. He is our president and working with him includes actively opposing what we don’t like and doing what we can to change it. This includes peacefully protesting, petitioning the government (local and federal), running for office, influencing those on social media, facilitating productive discussions, and using whatever platforms we have to the benefit of our causes. There is something we can do and we are doing it and we will not stop. Whatever side you are on, you should do the same.
- “Stop criticizing everything the president does just because you don’t like him. You wouldn’t do that if it was Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton!”
So there are a couple sides to this one. If this phrase is directed towards a millennial on social media (ages 18-early 30s), here’s something we should all consider: this is the first president they may have actually paid attention to. These are the first years that they may have actually known something about politics. If this is the first president they really know, and since they don’t like him, they are going to speak up. And next term they’ll speak up too, regardless of who sits in the oval office. If you are, let’s say, Generation X and you didn’t like Barack Obama’s administration, I guarantee that you complained. Not everyone heard you because you weren’t as active on social media. But imagine if you were. I wouldn’t stop you!
As far as criticizing goes, everyone needed to have a closer eye on the presidency and the government as a whole — that is long overdue. But especially now that we have a president and cabinet who have lied publicly, an election ridden with scandal, a press that needs reform, and twitter accounts on attack mode . . . let’s just say its time for us to be our own watchdogs, and not just because we don’t like the president.
- “Stop unfriending people just because they disagree with you politically.”
This is usually directed towards people who unfriend Trump supporters. In my experience I have not seen anyone be unfriended simply because of political views. Trust that it is more than that. I will try to put it as simply as possible: It is foolish to assume that every Trump supporter is racist. However, if racism is not an absolute deal-breaker for you when voting for the highest office in the land, there is a problem. And I didn’t even get into the problems with being anti-gay or anti-feminist. You may not have a friend who is racist, but they may okay with other people being racist — you can unfriend them. It’s okay.
- “Protesting doesn’t work, maybe you should try something else.”
One example of many: NoDAPL Protesters risk their lives and land over something valid that they care about, and our president signs and executive order denying them and ultimately causing death and destruction to their people and community. The protests are working. He hears them. He’s just choosing to actively ignore them. Here are some other things that they were doing besides protesting.
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