On November 8, 2016, the 45th President-elect was announced as Donald Trump. Having one of the most controversial candidacies, of course, incredible backlash was to be expected. Protests, riots, immigration, action, and reaction.

Trump’s voice of sincerity in his election speech surprised the public as he acknowledged his good run with Hillary. He promised to “make America great again” by helping reunite the people to work together, because he knows that the country has more potential. He stated that the forgotten would be recognized, like the veterans, and he would initiate the necessary rebuilding of schools, hospitals, and the roads that have been neglected. “We will embark upon a project of national growth and renewal. I will harness the creative talents of our people, and we will call upon the best and brightest to use their tremendous talent for the benefit of all. It is going to happen,” he stated.

About his economics, he says that we will have the best economics in the world and build great relationships with other countries. He ends the speech with, “nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach. America will no longer settle for anything less than the best,” before he continued to thank his family and everyone else who helped him with the election. That could not stop the backlash though.

Protest have been broken out in several major cities. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Portland, etc. Tucson has also shared there worries in multiple peaceful protests. On Monday, November 14, U of A college students held a protest for all to attend. It began with several speakers of every group that had felt targeted by President Elect Trump. The speakers poignantly spoke in a powerful way that the atmosphere of the crowd was united, they had similar fears. The march went from the U of A mall, to Catalina Park.

At the park, hundreds of protesters circled and began singing several songs in attempts to create more unity. The protesters marched back with the assistance of U of A security and TPD keeping the peace. Chants that where heard included: “no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here”, “love trumps hate”, “no trump, no kkk, no fascist USA”, “not my president”, “love, not hate, makes America great”, “the people, united, will never be divide”, and so on. The whole night remained peaceful, even with people holding confederate flags and interruptions at the event.

But within a time with such opposing viewpoints, and people being at the edge of their breaking point, peaceful protests can easily erupt into riots if the correct precautions are not put in place. Businesses have had their glass shattered, and walls vandalized in the midst of the riots. Violence in the riots have stricken out with both ends, trump supporters cause stirs within peaceful protests, flying confederate flags, physically and verbally attacking protesters, but a portion of the protesters have also harassed and beaten Trump supporters.

Times like these bring inevitable division, and while some people believe that the protesters should be silenced and be put to end, theit voices have been heard and are protected by the first amendment, the right to protest. Those rights were not stopped when racially cruel protests began after both of the Barack Obama terms. Protests and opposition grow stronger when greater forces unite, such as the celebrities that have been participating in the protest, including: Lady Gaga, Josh Hutcherson, Cher, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, and Katie Perry. Although Obama may not be participating in the acting protests, in an interview, Obama made it clear that he does not condone the riots and violence targeted at or by Trump supporters, but he does believe that the peaceful protest should not be silenced, stating, “I’ve been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years, and I suspect that there’s not a president in our history that hasn’t been subject to these protests. So, people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn’t advise them to be silent.”

Protests are meant to be heard, it is a reaction. As is for those who are placing a safety pin on themselves to show that they are a “safe place” following the election. Reaction shifts people’s perspective on the election that has occurred. It helps to actually take action. Many petitions have been started to help remove Trump from office, some carrying hundreds of signatures, some carrying millions. https://www.change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19 is a petition that has reached over 4.5 million signatures. It is an opposition of the electoral college’s pick for president elect, as the popular vote actually went to Hillary Clinton. Many people’s reactions strongly oppose the election of Trump and many want to flee America, what these people can do is take great actions and provide the change they want to happen, instead of fleeing, helping. Upon the moment of Trump’s election, like many have stated they would do, went on Canada’s immigration website to begin the immigration process. So many that the website had crashed. Canada has very willingly been accepting all of the Americans scared for their lives because of Trump. No matter who is the president, hopefully all of America will eventually be able to come together as one.