In case you (somehow) haven’t heard, Donald Trump won the 47th American presidential election by 86 electoral votes. On Nov. 5, King’s students gathered in the Wardroom to watch election coverage on three television screens until midnight.
Between conversations with their peers, they paced and let out groans. Prying their eyes from the larger screens, they periodically tapped their phones, attempting to get more recent updates.
“I think a lot of people in Canada have a lot of hope about what the American people are going to do,” said Solenda Cooper when asked about the American election. “I didn’t.”
Cooper is a dual citizen. She said she’s heard jokes and comments from Canadian students about what would happen to the world with Trump in office.
“There are actual, real people whose real lives are being affected by this,” she said.
Cooper said she’s concerned about the future of abortion, birth control, IVF, and healthcare. But most of all, she is fearful of the rhetoric surrounding immigration. Trump’s campaign promises include mass deportations and closing the border, meaning more restrictions on immigration and legal border crossings.
Over 40 per cent of Hispanic voters cast their ballot for Trump. Cooper said she has heard peers cast judgment about this turnout. But she said it’s more complicated than people realize.
Cooper’s grandfather immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in the ‘50s.
“He had to work so hard to be seen as [an American] that he had to completely reject his heritage,” said Cooper. “You have to distinguish yourself from ‘the enemy’, which in many cases, is your own people.”
Cooper said she doesn’t think Canadians are being realistic by assuming the election won’t have an impact on them.
Iman Mannathukkaren, a Canadian FYP student, agrees with Cooper.
“United States politics affects the entire world,” she said. “For us in Canada, it demoralizes us in fighting similar issues in our own country.”
Mannathukkaren, like Cooper, said she was disappointed in and unsurprised by the election results.
“I’m really scared to see what the coming years will look like for the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world,” said Mannathukkaren.
As a racialized student, Mannathukkaren said it was helpful for her to sit in the King’s Racialized Students’ Collective room.
“I chanced upon this book that was a children’s picture book,” she said. “But it was a very helpful story of a Japanese American woman who started writing picture books for children featuring racialized children.”
She said this story gave her hope and she was able to reflect on some good news: the other historic wins of this election.
Delaware elected Sarah McBride for congress. This was the first time an openly transgender person was elected for congress. For the first time ever, two Black women, Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt, will serve on the U.S. Senate. Monroe Nichols became Oklahoma’s first Black mayor. Pamela Goodwine was elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court, becoming the first Black woman to do so.
“I think it’s important to take this time to grieve,” said Mannathukkaren. “But stay hopeful.”
