With support from the school system, minority students in Des Moines staged a walkout Wednesday to protest Donald Trump’s election as the 45th president of America.
Blacks, Hispanics and other minorities changed “love trumps hate” in one of the protests heralded by the Des Moines Public School system in a statement on its website.
Meanwhile, the National Education Association that backed Hillary Clinton told teachers not to “move to Canada,” instead “organize.”
In the statement, the schools said:
The school district did not stand in the way of our students peacefully expressing their concerns, nor did the district make changes to the school day at high school. Classes and the schedule continued as normal.
At the same time, this year’s election has been a lesson and reminder that our democracy is not always easy and the results do not always turn out as you might hope. That has been true throughout our history. But regardless of whatever their political positions might be, we hope our students will continue to be engaged and speak out on issues that matter to them, and that all of us will do more to listen to each other.
It came as the National Education Association continued its war with Trump, saying teachers had a difficult day facing their children in the wake of the Republican’s election.
In a message to educators, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said, “It would be too easy to allow ourselves to give in to that despair, fear, and anger – to assume that losing an election means we give up, move to Canada, or go back to bed for the next four years. But that is not our way. We are educators. Instead we must realize that today is not the end but the beginning of what we do to keep our country strong for our children. Don’t mourn. Organize.”
She also promoted the hashtag #ImTellingMyKids for teachers to share how to approach students upset with the Trump victory.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
