I’m going to preface this article by stating the fact that I do not focus my time, Facebook statuses or private opinions on Donald Trump, the campaign trail or politics in general. Politics never interested me, and quite frankly, I mostly hear about what goes on in our government from CNN playing in the background, while my very informed sister watches, or just from slight conversations. However, I keep the conversations to a minimum, just be kept in the political loop, and for someone who loves to push people’s buttons, I’ve learned that politics is seen as a button with a warning “Do not touch. For real. Don’t do it.” It’s in that category with religion and low-key intense family drama that you just don’t talk about at dinner parties. This does not mean I’m not credible in what I have to say, as I am still an American citizen, I am just not of extreme bias towards any particular party.
With that being said, I was on my drive back to school from a weekend out of town, when I saw a group of protesters near the capital building. Through all of the rallying, I zeroed in on a girl standing still; almost blank-faced, but overcome with a pained expression. The sign she was holding read, “I am Muslim,” an innocent woman who would not harm a single soul. The power she held in her stance made me question the rallying, as there are frequent protesters that protest on various issues around the capital building. That’s when I found out about Donald Trump’s executive order.
The executive order, from what I’ve researched and can understand, basically denies the right for people to fly into the United States, if they are coming from one of seven Muslim-majority countries, including those that have a visa, for the next 90 days from when he signed it, on January 27th. In other words, Trump basically told an immense amount of people that they aren’t allowed to come home. These people might not even be Muslim. I’ve seen tweets from individuals about how journalists, who are not Muslim, cannot come back into the country because of this executive order.
What really struck me was when the president of my university, President John Thrasher, sent a university-wide email about this radical change. He noted that he, at the time, had knowledge of a student who had traveled out of the country to see his family, when the ban was announced. This student had emailed him about his academics. Why, you might ask? Well, he is unable to come back into the country to attend the university, where he was getting an education. Not only does this executive order affect innocent Muslim individuals, but also the rest of the university. There are classes within the university that have had to change their class schedules to help tailor to the needs of these students.
I think of the woman I saw in front of the capital building. I think of her family members. I think of her friends. Some of these people, who cannot come home due to the current ban, are simply part of a different culture and religion, one that is rapidly being shunned because of a group of individuals that happen to be followers of Islam, as well.
Now, I’m going to be a little facetious, but just hear me out:
President Trump, what if America believed that it was a crime for your private spray tanner to spray you as orange as you are, because we believe it is socially unacceptable to for you to represent America in this way? So, the American citizens ruled out all of the tanning companies just because one individual committed this “crime.” You have now lost businesses to help the economy, your private spray tanning guru, and also a friend of yours. But, I digress…
President Trump, what I am really saying is, we just want our innocent friends back. Their beliefs are nobody’s business but their own. Their actions reflect their own individual character, not what they follow.
So, thank you Donald Trump for trying to help protect our country, but some of the people in this country would urge you to consider some revising, maybe?