Editor’s note: The speech below by student Isa Carrillo was delivered at the Michigan State University (MSU) college student walkout in East Lansing, two days after the Presidential election. Thousands of college students around the country walked out on the same day in protest of the presidential election of Donald Trump and his policies.
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When I was 12 years old, Donald Trump won the US presidency for the first time. During his four years in office, I was harassed by classmates for being openly proud of my heritage. I was told that people like me are ruining America, that I am lucky I’m at least half white, and that I should go back to my own country. While my mother is an immigrant, while I am proud of my Guatemalan heritage, I was, in fact, born in Cincinnati, OH. This is my own country.
I brushed off those comments, chalking them up to ignorance, but those comments weren’t nothing. They were evidence of a deeper problem in this country, evidence of the rise of fascism.
Still, people tell me that Trump’s anti-immigrant sentiments pertain to undocumented immigrants only. They tell me that I shouldn’t be offended or take it as an attack against my identity and the identities of those I love. They tell me that as long as you immigrate “the right way” you have nothing to worry about. That’s bullshit. I am not an undocumented immigrant, I am not an immigrant, I am the child of an immigrant and that is enough to be told I don’t belong here.
This isn’t just anecdotal evidence. Trump, his advisors, and his supporters have repeatedly supported eugenics. Stephen Miller, a top advisor for Trump, said, “America is for Americans and Americans only.” Who is an American? Certainly not the undocumented immigrants whom Trump refers to as ‘animals’. In the past year, Trump has referred to immigrants as poisoning the blood of America at least four times. The concept of blood poisoning was introduced in Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. Trump’s supporters can clap all they want but they’re clapping for a fascist. Trump has also publicly stated that criminal behavior is hardwired into the genes of immigrants. This is clearly a eugenic stance and alludes that descendants of immigrants are inherently inferior and criminal.
I speak from my personal experience, and I know that I’m in an extremely privileged position. I see others in my community suffering to an even greater extent, and I know that under Trump’s presidency the situation will only worsen.
I am tired of being told that I shouldn’t be angry about this. I’m tired of being told that I’m taking this too personally. I am furious and hurt and those are warranted emotions. The system failed us, and now we have a lot of work to do.
Ursula K. Le Guin said, “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit or it is nowhere.” Let those words ring true. Today, we stand in a large group and we chant and we share community and we see the power of our numbers. Tomorrow, though, is just as important. A revolution isn’t a gathering of people, it is the beliefs you conceive your mind. It is treating people with kindness and love, it is hoping and working towards the future you wish to see. Let the revolution flourish in your spirit and do not let it die because of one loss. Trump won the election and that is a harsh reality to face, but his ideology hasn’t won our minds. Find hope in that. We must resist. We must persevere. We must stand against fascism.
