Trump supporters outraged about feeling like minorities

In the wake of the nastiest presidential election the nation has ever seen, a social civil war has broken out. It’s being fought in the streets, in the halls, and on the internet.

Interestingly, at the root of argument is not the president or political parties, but respect, or more importantly, lack thereof. No matter what people believe or their political party, if people don’t respect each other and remain civil, this country will never move forward.

For the most part, students agree that it’s important to respect the opinions of others.

“It is important to respect others opinions within limits. If you’re part of the KKK, I obviously have little respect for you. If you don’t like Trump for obvious reasons, that’s okay and I respect that. It has to go both ways though. Trump will be the president and it our job to support him any way we can, not go around burning the American flag,” senior Shad Kraftson said.

I think it’s so important to respect others’ opinions especially because there is no right or wrong. It’s our personal beliefs and preferences and while it’s ok to share your personal opinion, people should respect others opinions even if they differ,” sophomore Sydney Wallace said.

Unfortunately, since so many people are disrespectful to others about views, students have felt more comfortable refraining from expressing their opinions, and being silently opinionated.

“I don’t tell many people I’m a Republican unless I’m asked or need to. I think there are judgements made when someone says they prefer Trump over Clinton, but judgements are also made if someone says they supported Bernie Sanders. The election has given me more confidence in that a lot of people turned out to support Trump. I’ve never felt too uncomfortable,” Kraftson said.

While others are fearful of truly expressing their opinions, some have felt comfortable sharing.

“I haven’t ever been uncomfortable with others whose opinions differ from mine. I have super close friends who don’t share the same views as me, but we are all open and try to understand each other which is why it works so well with us,” Wallace said.

Some students have found that acceptance of opinions only goes one way at Stillwater.

“I’ve definitely felt uncomfortable when I wore my Trump hat to school. The liberals have such a double standard. If somebody at school wears a Bernie shirt to school, you’ll get high fives in the hall way, but the moment you wear a Trump shirt to school, you get books thrown at you. That actually happened last year to one student, books and shoes were thrown at him because he was wearing his Trump shirt,” junior Luke Vanderberg said.

“I don’t want to throw punches our anything like that but at times I want to rant at most of our school. Not because they have different opinions compared to me but because I can’t voice mine. They’re a bunch of phonies. I feel that Stillwater is a great place for minorities, especially the LGBT community. There are many groups who support this and I don’t see any discrimination toward those minorities. But the political minorities of Stillwater, I see discrimination all the time. I can’t even walk in the hallway with my Trump hat on without getting a death glare, it’s a bunch of cow manure,” Vanderberg added.

Since protests began, students can see that they are simply counterproductive.

“Protest all you want; the election is over. I’m not surprised, offended, or mad that people protested because there were and continue to be a lot of emotions. I can understand some people’s concerns given some of Trump’s previous comments, but I don’t think people need to be worried. Some of the protests and protesters were extreme in my opinion. There is no way California will secede in the near future. There is no way Hillary can still win because of faithless electors. Trump won and eventually people will get over it,” Kraftson said.

While some are unaffected by the protests, other students feel hurt and genuinely angry about them.

“The protests that have been going on in the US are just straight up disappointing a sad. Coming from a military family whose dad is serving his third tour in Afghanistan at this moment, I feel betrayed from our citizens that are protested. Not only the protesters who shut down the highway but always the people who are protesting online. I have multiple screenshots from Instagram of girls from our school saying how they want to kill themselves because their nominee is not becoming president. They have to grow up and realize that in our government, rural citizens matter just as much the urban population,” Vanderberg said.

Despite all of the disagreements, students generally feel optimistic about Stillwater High and the students who call it their own. 

“Just look at the cooperation between the Young Democrats and Republicans. Look at all the clubs. I think the school is becoming more diverse and anyone is welcome. I’m sure some people have it harder than others, but I think everyone can find a place in the school where they are welcomed and where they belong,” Vanderberg said.

Stillwater’s size is one of the aspects that makes it so welcoming to different people with different opinions.

“I think for the most part Stillwater is very open to different people especially because our school is so big that there are so many people that you find and share the same opinions and interests as you,” Wallace said.

Despite some disagreements and immaturity, Stillwater is doing alright. Hillary was right, love does trump hate.