Washington students walk out in response to Trump election
Nov 14, 2016, 2:32 PM | Updated: 8:26 pm
Sometimes when the adults can’t behave themselves, youth have to come in and show them how it’s done. That’s what students around Puget Sound aimed to do Monday amid a walkout in response to Donald Trump’s election as president.
Some organizers stated that they hoped it would be a peaceful contrast to some of the more violent anti-Trump demonstrations around the country.
According to KIRO 7, more than 5,000 students from Seattle-area schools took part in the walk out.
New estimate from Seattle Schools: More than 5,000 students from 20 high and middle schools walked out to protest Trump election.
— Graham Johnson (@GrahamKIRO7) November 14, 2016
One such school that organized a walkout was Juanita High School in Kirkland.
“I can’t stand by while minorities are poorly treated,” said Selena Gabrielle, a junior at Juanita. “It’s everyone’s job to call out injustice.”
“We as a society have a long way to go … I don’t think after a few months things like this are going to stop,” she said.
Tangney: Why a student walk out is a good thing
Gabrielle, along with fellow student Tamani Smart, organized their school’s walkout. It began at 1:30 p.m. Monday to call attention to the coming Trump presidency and the controversial stances he has promoted. Juanita students were not alone. Students from other schools in the region, including Interlake High School in Bellevue, and schools in Tukwila, Seattle and Edmonds, also organized walkouts.
KIRO 7 reports that many students in the Seattle area planned to congregate at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill.
The Denny walkout, at 25th and Thistle pic.twitter.com/5mPOCGtxw5
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) November 14, 2016
Pretty much all of Garfield High school just marched past my house on their way to meet up with other schools in a mass walkout ❤️pic.twitter.com/GktQhdKEo5
— Sarah Glidden (@sarahglidden) November 14, 2016
Franklin high school feeling the school pep on the way to the anti-Trump rally pic.twitter.com/I3v9Pq7UoN
— Freeman.ryan (@freemanryan95) November 14, 2016
The Juanita walk out
Juanita students, in a press release, said that Trump “is a threat to our Latino and black communities. We feel in danger. Starting this week we are no longer safe. We do not feel protected and we have to speak up for what we believe in.”
While many anti-Trump demonstrations have broken out across the country in the wake of the election, and most have been peaceful, there have been some incidents of violence, such as in Portland where 71 people were arrested. That is the sort of message that Gabrielle wants to override with Monday’s demonstration.
“Seeing (violence) on the news and hearing that from adults, I think that confuses kids on what is truly right and wrong,” Gabrielle said about the violence at some anti-Trump demonstrations.”We are going to try to stay away from the negative chants, like ‘Not my President.’ This walk out is not the place for it. We are going to do things like ‘Black Lives Matter’ … ‘Muslim Lives Matter.'”
“I really hope that people stop labeling these things as hatred, or they stop seeing it as we are trying to stop Trump from being president,” she added. “It’s simply the fact that there are minorities that have been struggling and now are struggling even more to the point that they aren’t feeling safe. That’s the point – to make minorities feel safe. It’s not about who you voted for, what your stance is. It’s simply the fact that we need to actually treat each other with the respect we have all been taught since an early age.”
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