Students and teachers sound off on Trump victory

The election has come and passed, voting is over, and we finally know who our future president is. But what do students and teachers in East LA think?

I interviewed students and teachers at my school about what they feel, think, and have to say about the election and our future president. There are lots of different opinions about what has happened all ranging from feeling extreme joy, to feeling outright rage.

Alia Elasmar

Elasmar is a Muslim therapist counselor who works at two schools.

“I have been discriminated already three times at the schools I work at and it came to me as a huge shock that Donald Trump was elected president because he was so upfront about being racist and a bigot. I never expected the people to vote for such a man. I work with African American students and Mexicans who are the minorities. I care for my students I hate to see this kind of hate thrown towards them. I was just thinking that we’d be moving forward instead of backwards. With this president whose made clear of who he cares about we’d just be undoing all the change and positivity we all worked so hard for. When we complain about how much of a racist and bigot Donald is there are people who say it’s not like there wasn’t presidents like that before and that racism never died anyways. Now we understand that there were racist and bigot presidents before and that racism is still a huge thing but I just thought we’d continue the positive trend for basic human rights for gender, sexuality, and religion. I didn’t even want to get out of bed to go to work! But my students and the work I do with them is what motivated me out of bed. I’m just disappointed in this country that this many people actually supported Donald. The world needs the dignity of each and every one of us even more than ever now. But just because he won the election does not mean
he can take away the love and support we all have for each other.”

Christopher Barajas

“It’s been a crazy election. Both popular parties had very unpopular candidates running for president. As for the outcome I’m glad that Donald Trump won, I wanted him too. Hillary would’ve endangered our national security, she shouldn’t even be able to qualify to become president. I believe in Donald Trump, it’s all about a give and take relationship. I believe there will be lots of change, we’ll just have to see if it’s good or not.”

Michael Leavy

“I was very disappointed and fearful for my country when I found out that Donald Trump won the election. I was just amazed and horrified that this actually happened. We’ve elected a totalitarian leader; Donald Trump reminds me very much of Mussolini. I feel like this is the end of this great experiment of democracy that our founders created. If that sounds too over dramatic, all I’m saying is that this country is already broken and unreliable Trump will inevitably break it more.”

Mariah Torres

“I think that both parties’ candidates sucked. There were better nominees in the beginning
(i.e. Bernie Sanders, Jeb Bush). America is stupid for electing for a corrupt nominee. Donald Trump is not a politician he has no history with any kind politics, all he cares about is the image. As for Hillary with her private email address, has proven that she’s not trustworthy. Just because Hillary says all this good things doesn’t mean you could trust her word. Beside the point I’m trying to be optimistic and open minded for the future. I just hope that the in the near future the people realize who they voted for, that Donald was not a good candidate. FEEL THE BERN!”

Diana Shar

“The results of the election is slowly becoming a reality. I actually monitored the polls for five hours. There
was so much anxiety when I saw Donald in the lead. I come from a family of immigrants and I work with the LAUSD which is 99% Hispanic and 50% of those kids are females so of course I was against him. We are supposed to teach students not to bully and there are many that struggle bullying. How are we supposed to continue to teach them not to be bullies when our president is a bully? However as a proud American I have to stay hopeful and trust that he can do well even with his expertise in the field of economy. Hopefully since the Republicans have control of the government it’ll be easier to make
decisions and solve problems.”

We all have our own opinions and we may not agree with each other but we all have to stand together as
one nation. Respect each other even you can’t see eye to eye, stand up for each other even if you are the one who falls, and most of all speak your mind only with clarity and facts. Don’t add irrationality to a world that already doesn’t always make sense. Be safe and always hope for the best.