Do young Americans, social activists, mayors need a hug since Trump has been elected?

By Christopher Curran
Posted 12/7/16

In post-election America, young people, social activists, and municipal leaders across our nation are anticipating doom and see Donald J. Trump’s election to the presidency as a harbinger of an …

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Do young Americans, social activists, mayors need a hug since Trump has been elected?

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In post-election America, young people, social activists, and municipal leaders across our nation are anticipating doom and see Donald J. Trump’s election to the presidency as a harbinger of an impending disregard of their interests and a potential erosion of their rights. Certainly, a president can affect our society to a point. However, the insurance provided by our Constitution against a suspected tyrant from the executive branch seems to elude college students and protest-minded activists. Young Americans are caught up in an emotional whirlwind since the results of the general election became clear. The question is whether this widespread unrest is in actuality a tempest in a teapot or a legitimate concern of a potentially dangerous creeping authoritarianism.

At college campuses throughout the country, demonstrations abound especially among minority and alternative lifestyle groups. College administrators resignations have been called for, scheduled examinations have had to be postponed or cancelled, and quadrangles have been stuffed full of weeping students lying prostrate on the grass.

Along with meandering complainant students, municipal leaders have made dogmatic proclamations about how they will be resistant against any enforcement of immigration laws in their individual cities. Federal statutes and 10th Amendment issues aside, these premature cautionary tales appear to be opportunities for political rhetoric rather than real concerns about social displacement.

Also on the warpath against the incoming chief executive, the social activists in the African-American and LBGTQ (Lesbian-Bi-sexual-Gay-Transgender-Questioning) community are not only demonstrating but are also flooding social media with stated fears of being castigated and having their civil rights stolen from them.

This tornado of apprehension and craven fearfulness assumes facts not in evidence as of yet. Donald Trump spoke a lot of provocative assertions during the circus of the campaign season. Many of which will be honed down to a great degree in practice. The practicality of governing is quite different than the wild rhetoric of campaign politics. So, the overly emotional students, and the social activists who feel imperiled, and the mayors who feel protective about their illegal communities should take a breath. Whether Donald Trump will attempt to govern as a hard-line authoritarian is a question that cannot be answered until January 20th. To assume the worst when obviously no changes have been implemented thus far is a fool’s errand.

Soon after the defeat of Democrat nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, college students, undoubtedly spurred by a usually far left liberal faculty, were swirled into a hurricane of emotional protest. Crisis counselors were enlisted and comfort/service animals were brought in to assuage the fears of the university populous.

Specifically, the issues of political correctness are the themes of warning and discontent that the complaining barkers on college campuses are crowing about. And when the college administrators do not respond in what the demonstrators perceive is a sufficient manner, they boisterously call for their ouster.

Case and Point, the President of Ithaca College in upstate New York, Thomas Rochon, was accused of being racially insensitive when he admonished students for not attending their classes when they instead were malingering by demonstrating against the President-Elect’s supposed racism. Protestors have chanted a call for Rochon’s removal.

Similarly, at the University of Kansas, race activists claimed the school administration were just giving lip service to their complaints and called for the resignation of the school’s hierarchy in favor of a more diversified staff.

At Ivy League Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, school officials have capitulated to the charge that black students are suffering from “Micro-aggressions”. This concept is that even though there is no detectable overt bigotry, there are “tone-deaf slights” directed at minority students. In response, school officials have pledged to address the problem with extensive sensitivity training for non-minority students. Yale senior and campus activist Aaron Lewis stated: “It is really hard to believe because we want to believe we’re a post-racial society, but it’s just not true”.

At Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, daily protests since the election have been overfilling the quad. Students refused to resume their normal schedules and after campus security were ineffective in trying to break up the demonstrations, the university President Denise Trauth attempted to quell the dissent “Our aim should be to better understand that which causes divisions among us and to work toward strengthening our bond as a university community. Constructive dialogue is the best way to achieve this goal”. Her efforts were not well received by the righteous feeling students.

Meanwhile, at the all female Wellesley College, “Safe Spaces” have been established to comfort students “In shock” from the election loss of their alumnus Hillary Clinton. These Safe Spaces are cordoned areas where psychologically trained counselors can deal with the after effects of the “tragedy” of Trump prevailing. Also, in response to road impeding demonstrations, the University of Southern California now offers sensitivity meetings as “legitimate alternatives” to attending classes. Additionally, at Columbia University in New York, a “Post-Election Conversation and Reflection Program” has been created to deal with the “Far-reaching” effects of Hillary’s loss, and the emotional damage to the student body as a result.

These coddling reactions to Trump’s victory is to say the least baffling for it presupposes that some truly onerous things are about to happen long before the man has taken the oath of office.

Akin to these protests are complaints by the African American and alternative lifestyles communities. At Princeton University, a student activist group called the “Black Justice League” has expressed their distress regarding the Trump election. In 2015, this same group had unsuccessfully tried to remove the name of former university president and former United States President Woodrow Wilson from all campus buildings. They say that Trump is the new embodiment of Wilson and the legend of his supposed racism. The comparison seems quite a stretch.

Along the same line, University of Tennessee Psychology Professor Patrick Grzanka has stated he has witnessed the LBGTQ community suffer from great apprehension about Trump’s victory and the anticipated adverse effect his presidency will have on their rights. “Our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students are deeply concerned about Trump” and “After enduring months of homophobic and transphobic rhetoric during the campaign, many of us sexual minorities and gender nonconforming individuals-are asking them selves what happens next?”

Equally premature are the statements made by minority sensitive mayors who have made dramatic speeches against the new president and his possible intention to follow and enforce the laws of the land regarding illegal immigrants. The Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of Los Angeles, California Eric Garcetti, and the Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island have all made impassioned speeches about protecting the rights of illegal immigrants and ignoring whatever the new president tries to do to enforce the statutes. Their characterization of Trump as ruthless family busting monster is as of yet unproven considering we do not even know what his actual reforms will be yet.

All in all, the protests, complaints, demonstrations, and emotional whirlwinds that have possessed many young people since the election of Donald Trump are not only premature, they are foolishly presumptuous. The Donald Trump on the stump will not necessarily be the same man administrating in the Oval Office.

Students, activists, and municipal leaders who are prematurely apoplectic over what may happen in the upcoming term are involved in a waste of effort. Also, to indulge these frivolous student exercises of erroneous protest by school administrators is not a responsible lesson to teach the nation’s college students. Political correctness has triumphed common sense in these incidents. If you are worried about the future young folks, go see your Mom and Dad and receive a reassuring hug. Just leave those who run your institutions alone and, for God’s sake, go to class!

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  • RISchadenfreude

    Parents have done a terrible job preparing their children for reality and the leftists running the colleges just encourage this behavior- hand out teething rings and move on.

    The protests aren't BECAUSE Trump won, they are WHY Trump won; over the last eight years, fringe movements have villainized average citizens as extremists, including Obama referring to his "enemies" (HIS word, not mine, for people who disagreed with him) as "bitter clingers", "backward", "angry white men", etc., and people are fed up with being called racist, bigoted, hateful, blah, blah, blah. When a presidential candidate refers to the opposition as "Deplorables", they're obviously out of touch- did she really think that voters would change their minds and support her if she called them names? The bad behavior goes all the way to the top, from Obama blaming TV's in bars rather than his failed policies, to Hillary's temper tantrum backstage on Election night as leaked by the Secret Service.

    Rioting and civil disturbance disguised as "peaceful protest" has been accepted and encouraged by the silent approval of the media and the President.

    I think that the Democrats' biggest fear is that Trump will succeed- why else criticize and nit-pick every move he makes when he hasn't even taken the oath yet?

    I for one am looking forward to the Freakoutrage of the left for at least the next 4-8 years; the best thing to do is ignore their tantrums, lest they continue to complain that we're picking on them. This election shouldn't have been a surprise- Obama's leftist/progressive policies has been repudiated in the elections of 2010, '12, '14 and again this year. Republicans at the Federal, State and local levels are at historic highs.

    Damns given about their "discomfort" and emotional hand-wringing: 0.

    Thursday, December 8, 2016 Report this

  • davebarry109

    The leftists are truly anti-American. In the 1980's, a learned man suggested we did not defeat communism when the wall fell. He opined that the soviets had launched a plan to inftrate our churches, colleges, and other institutions and spread discontent over generations. It seems to have worked/is working. Our colleges teach young adults that America is oppressive and bad. Like we've never done a good thing in the world when the reality is the complete opposite.

    Thursday, December 8, 2016 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Sit down, shut up, don't say a word. Our fearless leader will do all of that for us.

    Thursday, December 8, 2016 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    Hmm. Dow Jones up almost 10% since election. Japanese banker investing 50 billion in USA. Dow Chemical keeping 7,000 jobs in Michigan. So far, so good.

    4 billion Air Force One cancelled. Louisiana Senate race to go Republican. CC, Al Gore, and Dems still crying. Yup. Liking it so far.

    Saturday, December 10, 2016 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    And Fearless Leader has put Vlad's choice into Foggy Bottom, Rick Perry as Director of Housing, Treasury, ummmmm give me a minute. Energy? Oops.

    Tuesday, December 13, 2016 Report this

  • Katfrye

    At the very beginning you seem somewhat reasonable like this was going to be a somewhat nuanced opinion that just came to a different conclusion than mine. Then it goes off the rails into a insular and circular echo chamber critique of liberal Americans as a caricature with no room for any reality based counter argument.

    Paragraph after paragraph painting the college campuses safe spaces and listing the most ridiculous examples but no mention whatsoever of any fact of Trump's transition or fact of how any Americans other than these college kids and mayors have acted. No critical analysis.

    A ridiculous assertion that nothing can be intuited about a Trump presidency from his transition team, cabinet picks and behavior since the election is made. That nothing can be determined until we wait and see if he will be an authoritarian and decide after he already is in January (but probably not until at least summer I am sure have to give him a chance first!) You may be willing to not use critical thinking is this circumstance, but it is still available.

    The picks of Steve Bannon, Rick Perry, Tillerson, Flynn...they give a lot of insight into what a Trump Presidency will look like and it is one where facts are actively rejected, white nationalists are given a media platform and open season on the environment is declared.

    Hate crimes have risen since the election, many done while invoking our President elects name and he is more offended by SNL and tweets about that and the Hamilton cast but not how disgusted he is with swatstikas, Heil trump salutes and targeting of minorities being done while invoking his name. That shows a twisted sense of moral outrage and completely backwards prioritization on his part.

    It is also concerning that his supporters are showing no signs of having any critical thought or fact ever penetrate their defenses, that he as he bragged could literally shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and they would still support him. He didn't mean drain the swamp, he has said that to his supporters now, it just played well to the crowds so he went with it. His cabinet picks prove he didn't mean it. Same with lock her up, because 1) there is nothing to charge her with that would lead to conviction 2) he has no interest in focusing on criminal charges to politicians as he is planning on violating our laws, constitution and norms for his benefit continuously. And don't worry Newt Gingrich has it all figured out they will just change the laws so then they are not being broken and where that doesn't work Trump will just pardon everyone!

    He shows absolutely every sign that he WILL govern as an authoritarian without the best interests of America even being on the agenda.

    I am a social activist. I don't need a hug. I don't need a safe space. I need to see evidence that my fellow Americans that voted for Trump are ever going to stop rehashing the election and filtering every action of Trump as if he is still campaigning rather than running a transitional President Elect official team. That they are going to hold him accountable, that they care that his businessss, innappropriate mixing of his children in governance, and his foreign policy via Twitter are corrupt and dangerous. That his conflicts of interest are violations of the Constitution. That nominating people who don't believe in protection of the environment or science to the EPA is crazy. I need a President who can stay off of Twitter and act like a grown up and not a whining entitled, arrogant child. You have a lot of criticism for young college aged Americans need of "safe spaces" but none of our President Elect who is a grown man who thinks he deserves the Presidency same craven behavior! He needs a safe space of the whole country free of any negative criticism! SNL, labor organizers, newspapers, magazines, literally anyone who criticizes him sends him off in a thin skinned I need a safe space twitter Rant. If you criticized that as well I would take your criticisms of the lack of maturity of college students more seriously. If when you criticized the students at Wellesley's safe spade needs you had also criticized the schoolyard tough boy superiority needs of the college aged boys who screamed through their campus in their truck taunting them and screaming outside of the sororities about Trump I would be more able to take your analysis seriously.

    So yes many of us are pretty upset and vocal, but not because we want a hug and a safe space, but because we want a competent President who doesn't need his own safe space and lashes out if he doesn't get it.

    Thursday, December 22, 2016 Report this