After November 9, when votes were counted and it was reported that Trump won President-elect of the United States, people made sure their voices were heard, spreading positive and negative messages alike.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there have been over 200 incidents of hateful harassment and intimidation since Election Day.
A video showing a group of middle students in Royal Oaks, Michigan chanting “Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!” in their cafeteria went viral after it was posted to social media, gaining almost two million views and being shared thousands of times.
Motivated by the results of the election, a number of black freshmen students at the University of Pennsylvania were added to a GroupMe chat that sent racist messages. The creator of the GroupMe, a University of Oklahoma student, also posted a calendar with daily updates and reminders called “Daily lynching.”
“The University is taking every step possible to address both the source of the racist material and the impact it has had on Black students on campus,” said Ron Ozio, spokesperson for the University.
Many similar incidents have occurred across the country: students in schools have been sporting blackface, shouting racial slurs, and making fun of certain ethnic groups across social media.
At Texas State University, students celebrated Donald Trump’s win by gluing fliers on student bathroom mirrors across campus. The fliers sported racially offensive messages, one of them stating that “diversity” and “multiculturalism” are other words for “white genocide.”
Matt Flores, spokesperson for Texas State, said that the fliers were removed and that the incident is undergoing criminal investigation.
Schools aren’t the only ones seeing these discriminatory messages. Churches across the country have been defaced with racial messages in the form of graffiti.
St. David’s Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom, Indianapolis was vandalized. Swastika-resembling tags, anti-gay slurs, and messages like “Heil Trump” were painted onto the church’s walls, leaving members of the church feeling disheartened.
The Rev. Kelsey Hutto, priest at the church at the time of the incident, was discouraged when she saw what vandals did to the church, however, managed to keep spreading positivity. She moved onto Facebook to post photos of the messages from the perpetrators, including a wall spray-painted with “Black lives don’t matter and neither does your vote.”
“But what we really need to focus on is not the election, but rather the fact that love conquers all hate,” Hutto said. “Anytime hate is presented, love needs to be our response. That’s how we’re responding.”
These movements have been sensationalized all over social media, some receiving backlash and others receiving support.
The 2016 presidential election was full of negativity and exposed the divisive rift between political parties and Americans. The results of the election seem to have inspired more hate as people continue to voice their displeasure over the President-elect and others celebrate Trump’s triumph.
