November 8, 2016:
Donald Trump Elected As Next U.S. President
Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in a night that saw a number of projected Democratic states voting Republican, resulting in an overwhelming electoral college victory for Trump.
With votes in Michigan still being counted (but leaning towards Trump), it appears that Trump not only won the crucial swing states of Florida and Ohio, but stunned Democrats with victories in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; states that they expected to carry easily. A surprising surge in turnout from rural voters, who voted overwhelmingly in Trump’s favor (62%, according to the Washington Post).
Trump’s victory was also buoyed by a surprisingly high 29% of the total Latino vote and won 48% of independent voters, versus Clinton’s 42%.
The loss of Pennsylvania was the anvil that broke the camel’s back. There, massive Clinton support in big cities like Philadelphia was unable to balance out the swarms of urban, often not college-educated voters that turned out in force for their Republican candidate. In the end, Trump won the state and its whopping 20 electoral votes by a margin of 1.2% of the vote.
Clinton was also hurt by weaker-than-expected support from women, as she had only a 2% advantage over Trump. Disappointing turnout among Latino voters in states like Florida also contributed to her loss.
What may have stunned the country the most is that for the fifth time in U.S. history, a president won the election without winning the popular vote. Clinton at this point has approximately 62 million votes, while Trump had one million less.
Trump won the electoral college 290 votes to Clinton’s 232 (Michigan has not yet been called).
Students gathered for peaceful protest.
November 9, 2016:
The Fight Heard Around the World
Sophomore Jade Armenio was beaten by fellow sophomore Maliyah Thomas on November 9th, the day after Donald Trump became the President-elect. Thomas attacked Armenio because Armenio expressed agreement to a comment by an unidentified student on her Instagram account that said “f— Mexicans.” Since those comments, Armenio’s Instagram account has been deleted. The conversation surrounding the fight, which happened at 12:23 PM in the A-Wing Quad, are transcribed below (via the M-A Chronicle)
Prior To the fight:
Someone talking to Jade (J): “If Trump becomes president they’re going to get rid of Planned Parenthood and you’re going to need that quite a bit.”
J: “I don’t need that.”
Someone else: “She [M] isn’t going to sit next to us, right?”
Maliyah (M): “Is this her?”
Someone else: “Yeah.”
M: “So you said f— Mexicans?”
J: “What?”
M: “You said f—- Mexicans.”
J: “No.”
M (to everyone): “Did she not say that?”
J: “No. When did I say that?”
M: “On Instagram.”
J: “No. When?”
Someone else: “She really did.”
J: “I most definitely didn’t.”
M: “Can somebody please tell me that she did?”
Everyone around: “Yes she did. Yes she did. I saw it.”
J: “I said that I like Trump.”
Someone else: urges Maliyah to calm down
M: “I really want to…”
Someone else: “You really want to what? You really want to what?”
M (to friend): “Take those [glasses].”
Someone else: “Maliyah no! Maliyah no!”
Someone else: “What the f—? What the f—?”
(Transcribed by the MA Chronicle)
Following the Fight:
J: “What the f—. Who do you think you are?”
M: “Maliyah Marie Thomas, b—-.”
Someone else: “Yooo, Maliyah Marie Thomas, b—-.”
Someone else (when J talks to some authority) “Snitch! Snitch! Snitch!”
Someone else: “I’m trying to get out of here, what the f—.”
https://youtu.be/VXy6XbXiuWY
November 10, 2016:
Protests Ensue At Woodside
More than half of Woodside High School students and teachers participated in a peaceful protest that took up two and a half hours of the school day.
Students express their feelings and concerns at the protest.
The protest was led by two high school seniors, Cesar Zavala and Manny Delgado, who wanted to bring attention to administration that there should be consequences for hate speech.
Speakers and microphones were brought out by the leadership class. After a quick speech from Principal Burbank, students got up one by one to speak about their feelings and opinions. It was mentioned by Burbank that all beliefs and opinions were open for discussion at the mic.
Although it wasn’t intended to be an anti-Trump protest, many students who spoke, expressed their anger and fears they had felt due to the outcome of the election.
Despite the recent fight between two students, Zavala and Delgado agreed that it wasn’t the reason for the protest.
“The news was the last straw,” said Cesar. He claimed the way the story was reported by ABC News was “one-sided” and that, “Maliyah’s perspective was not taken into account.”
Students that skipped their fourth period class in order to participate in the protest had their absences cleared. According to Zavala and Delgado, the protest was “not intended to go into school hours.” Their initial plan was to hold it during brunch and lunch only.
Principal Burbank continually addressed students urging them to be accepting of all perspectives that were expressed by speakers at the protest.
“The admin getting involved helped keep the peace and kept students in check,” said Zavala. “Ms. Burbank made it comfortable and peaceful for everyone.”
November 10, 2016:
Some Students Sat Out Of the Protest
Despite the many students that covered every inch of the quad during the Woodside High School’s protest Thursday morning, some students and teachers did not attend.
Mrs. Sigona, a long term English substitute, was confused to find her classroom mostly empty except for four students during fourth period.
She expressed her feelings towards the protest by saying, “It was a healthy learning process for students and a positive way for them to express their thoughts.”
Sigona told Woodside World that she stayed in the classroom because she didn’t feel that participating herself would make that much of a difference.
“I didn’t was to force students to go if they didn’t want to. It was their choice, but I told the ones that went that if it got violent to come right back to her classroom,” she said.
She was mostly worried about her student’s safety, but was relieved that it was a peaceful experience for the school.
Jennifer Lee, a sophomore who chose not to go to the protest shared her views on why she chose not to get involved.
“I am not huge on crowds and when my mom texted me about what she saw on the news, she scolded me and told me that I better be in class, but I chose not to go because I was uncomfortable with the amount of people,” she said.
Parents and teachers were worried about the way the protest would go because of the student fight the day before, but students peacefully gathered to have their voices heard.
