Lots of student anger, worry after election

Anger justified, but did you vote?

Demarie Deas doesn't believe in anything Donald Trump will do.

"I don't trust that man," the sophomore student from Goose Creek said.

Deas thinks the country will be greatly affected with Trump becoming the president. She also believes there will be riots and protests.

"People are angry," Deas said. "But you can't be mad at other people or Trump, because if you didn't go out and vote, you don’t have a say."

Nathaniel Fields, a junior business major from Washington, D.C., shares Deas’ worries.

"I believe that Donald Trump will be the worst thing to ever happen to this country and world," Fields said.

But Fields said he was not shocked about Trump being elected president. "It just proved how ignorant Americans can be.”

Disappointment but no reason to panic

By ELIJAH MCKINNIS

Claflin mass communications student Allegra Portee is disappointed in the results of the 2016 election.

“I’m very disappointed” the sophomore said. “I had faith in the country and thought that this being the second time Hillary ran for office that she would win.”

She worries about President-elect Donald Trump.

“I don’t trust him; I’m concerned for not only myself and my family but the entire country,” Portee said.

Addressing the issue of racial division in America, Portee said, “I have faith people will work together and unite despite the differences we all share.”

Senior sports management student Johnny Stevenson said there is no reason for so much concern about Trump.

“It can’t really be all gloom and doom,” Stevenson said. “He only has so much executive power. He can’t act alone. Things still have to be passed and agreed upon.”

As to any concern minorities may have, Stevenson said, “Unless you are Hispanic, no there shouldn’t be any panic level. I believe most minorities believe at the end of the day that America is there home, so there is no reason for panic.”

Pulling off a shocker

By Marlon Howard

Millennials are scratching their heads wondering what went wrong on Election Day 2016.

Regine Johnson, a senior at Claflin, is still trying to make sense of the results.

“I really do not know how he pulled it off. I feel like he shocked the whole world and this has been his plan all along, Johnson said of the victory by Republican Donald Trump.

With the whole country tuning in, Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, crushing her in the Electoral College vote 290-232.

Even though Clinton won the popular vote, Trump executed his strategy by taking states like North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.

“I really did not expect him to win. I am surprised that people want someone like Trump as the face of our country. He has this slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ but how can we make our country great when our president openly expresses segregation and berates women. What kind of message does that send?” Johnson said.

As to why Clinton did not win, Johnson said, “I feel like she didn’t win because a lot of people just did not believe in what she was preaching. Many people that I ran across looked at this election as a pick-your-poison election. They felt like both candidates were not the right people for the job, and they elected to either not vote or write somebody else’s name on the ballot.”

Trying to stay optimistic about Trump

By Marlon Howard

Claflin senior Juwan Savoy is not pleased with the election outcome.

“To me it shows that the people’s voice does not matter. Politics is just like a game of chess and Trump made all the right moves,” Savoy said.

With Republican Donald Trump taking the electoral votes, he was able to win the election even though Democrat Hillary Clinton took the popular vote. This left voters confused and questioning how much power the people actually hold.

“I never really believed people when they said that our votes don’t count, but this election is making me a believer,” Savoy said.

With inauguration looming around the corner, a lot of Americans are wondering what is next. Trump has raised eyebrows with controversial comments on women and minorities, and the plan he wants to execute once he reaches the White House.

“I don’t like the fact that our country actually stands behind a man like Trump. I feel like he won because people slept on him thinking that he will take himself out of the race because of the radical comments that he has made throughout his campaign. But instead he rallied up a strong following. It is sad that people actually agree with what he is saying. I am just trying to stay optimistic about it,” Savoy said.

Results hits home for political science major

By Brandi Threatt

“How could this be happening?” senior education major Alexis Jones said about Donald Trump winning the Nov. 8 election.

“I feel sorry for those who are not in school yet. It may become so hard to go forward and get an education in the next couple of years,” Jones said. “This election is going to push us back several years. Not just black people, but everybody.”

She can’t understand what went wrong. “This year I came in contact with more people than I ever have before that said they were going to vote.”

Junior political science major Andre Wilson had a calm approach toward the results of the election.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that the American people’s voices were ignored in this situation. We just have to see what Trump may bring to the table,” Wilson said. “The Electoral College has always been in existence and every four years people are upset, but this is the first time that it has really hit home for me.”

Wilson also talked about his hopes for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

“I saw a change and heard great things on the news while Obama was in the office,” Wilson said. “Outside of Clinton’s flaws, she would’ve kept all the policies Obama has put in place. I didn’t want all of his hard work to be erased.”

'It’s some straight up bull!'

By Allegra Portee

The week was a traumatic one for Claflin University students.

A newborn infant being found alive in a garage dumpster and a presidential election producing victory for Republican Donald Trump came just hours apart. On Wednesday, the talk on campus was about the baby and the pending arrest of his mother – and about what the election will mean.

Students fear for their loved ones and their generation.

“We’ve taken bad presidents before but we never had something like this,” Claflin sophomore Logan Crosby-Chambers said. “He used fear to win.”

If you thought millions of Americans were overwhelmed by Trump’s election, imagine young minorities reacting with panic and anger.

“It’s some straight up bull! I feel like this is going to us set us back like a good 50 years,” freshman Jalon Watson said. “Things have already been crazy for us the past eight years Obama was in office. I’d say the election was fair, but it’s just I have to deal with it.”

Chambers sees things differently.

“No, I don’t feel the election was fair. Trump only won electoral votes. He actually lost by 200,000 for the votes of the people,” Chambers said. Some people want “a white America back. They didn’t like that change was happening and everything was becoming equal like it’s supposed to.”

Can Trump be a good president?

“In truth I don’t know if Trump could do anything good for this country. He’s the president now, so unless one of his upcoming court cases next month gets him impeached and removed from office, I don’t know,” Chambers said.

Watson also doubts any positive will come from Trump.

“As far as our money goes, he could fix that, hopefully, but no, not really, I don’t think he could do any good while in office,” Watson said.

Chambers and Watson preferred Hillary Clinton.

“I would surely prefer Hillary as president because we’ve seen bad presidents before and I wouldn’t say she would’ve been the best thing, but in the reality of it, she did get my vote,” Chambers said.

“I trusted Hilary Clinton more than I trust him. A presidential election shouldn’t leave people sobbing in fear of their lives and the lives of their loved ones. That’s not right,” Watson said.

But there is acceptance of the election results.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now. I know many people here at my own school are frightened. They’re scared for their future and for their families. It’s even questioned if there will be HBCUs now that Trump is president, because like these other rights he’s taking that aren’t his to take, he can also take HBCUs away too,” Watson said.

“I was very surprised. I really expected Hillary to win. She won the popular vote, she had more experience, and he has no experience at all. But who knows, that’s probably what we need. I’m not happy with it though because of the way Trump’s campaign was run and the things he said and did. I didn’t like that. But hey, God bless the USA and be good. But if you can’t be good, be good at it.”

Get ready for a different America

By Jocyln Ramos

Essence Jordan, a freshman student-athlete from Snellville, Georgia, believes the election and the results were rigged.

“They picked the two worst candidates to run in the race and I honestly feel like we would’ve been screwed over either way,” Jordan said.

She made sure she went to polls on Nov. 8 to cast her vote in the election, but the outcome took her by surprise when she found out Donald Trump triumphed over Hillary Clinton.

“If I could sum up my reaction in one word, it word be ‘concerned,’ not only for this country but for the well being of myself and my family,” Jordan said. “What’s next?”

She feels Trump is a “bully with money” and he was allowed to run for president as an eye-opener to U.S. citizens.

Jordan said now is when America has to come together and unite as a people. “Who better to change what we don’t like in this country than us?”

Deja Dickens, a sophomore Claflin student-athlete from Chicago, said the entire campaign and election were unjust.

“We don’t have a person in the office now that can relate to us [African-Americans]. He never took the time to research or to learn what we go through, because everything Trump has was handed to him,” Dickens said.

Comparing Trump to President Barack Obama is a little farfetched, but when you think about it, Obama was able to make the “Democrats happy and still make a way for the Republicans to keep money in their pockets,” Dickens said.

She is adamant that the United States will experience another war with Trump as the new commander in chief.

“I just feel like politics is about to change completely, and not for the better.”

Erica Davis, a freshman student-athlete from Bunn, North Carolina, is equally disappointed in the outcome of the election.

“I am disappointed in the lack of progress our country has made,” Davis said. “I just think this election points out that we haven’t made as much progress as we thought.”

Davis said she was shocked that Trump won. But looking back on it, she thinks there were a lot of people who would never admit they voted for Trump.

“Just can’t believe someone who lacks political background with no experience could be the next president,” Davis said.

There has been a lot of talk about Trump lacking experience in this election and it’s safe to say this is probably why most people are scared.

“It just speaks volumes to the type of people that he attracts and it says a lot about his character,” Davis said.

Going forward, Davis believes this isn’t the end, but it’s definitely the beginning of a different day for the country.

“If you weren’t ready before, then we better get ready,” Erica said.

Worried – but there might be more jobs

By Cody Dallas

As America reels from the shocking election that made Donald Trump our next president, Claflin students like Justice Mitchell are concerned over the future of the country.

“I’m a little concerned, but more so over where the country’s heart was and what they really wanted,” Mitchell said.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he said about how his life might change under Trump. “Now I’m just curious to know if race relations will get worse, or better, or stay the same.”

While many students are speaking of the end of America under Trump, Mitchell did try to look on the bright side, economically at least.

“I believe there might be more jobs because of this.”

‘World is coming closer to end’

By Ebonee Edwards

Students at Claflin and South Carolina State universities are stunned by the results of the Nov. 8 election.

Amara Green from S.C. State is very upset that Donald Trump was elected president.

 “I feel as though the world is coming closer to the end,” Green said. “Everything is going all wrong.”

Green isn’t the only student who feels that way.

Claflin’s Tracey Hunter said, “I don’t like Trump and he shouldn’t have won. We all are going to miss President Obama.”

Students still claim Obama as their president. Not only do they not like Trump, they do not like his wife because she does not lead by example the way Michelle Obama does for women around the world.

Protests should be peaceful

By Audrey Anchirinah

“I am not so much afraid of Trump being president,” Claflin junior Brianna Williams said regarding one person having only so much power.

Nonetheless, the same as Claflin students are uncertain and scared after Tuesday’s elections, Williams does have fears.

“I am afraid of the ideas associated with Trump, kind of like the prejudice, discrimination that awoke in the country about his election,” Williams said. “So just the renewal of attitudes we thought were gone or thought were suppressed are on the rise again.”

There have been protests after the election in major cities around the country.

“I think any peaceful protest is beneficial, but now I see the protests becoming riots and violent,” Williams said. “That needs to cease.”

Williams said with the Electoral College being a tradition, she does not know if the protests would change that.

“I value expressing your opinion, but I value expressing it peacefully,” Williams said.

Claflin student Erica Scrivener also has a tempered reaction to the election outcome.

“I don’t agree with who won but at the same time we have to give everyone a chance,” she said.

 “Sometimes with giving people a chance, you have to let them realize their own mistakes and get out office themselves,” Scrivener said.

‘We aren’t going back to Africa’

By Kyreese Blocker

Kayla Scarborough says she was very excited on the way to the polls on Tuesday.

It was the Claflin student’s first time voting and she hoped her vote would help her candidate win. After hearing the results in favor of Donald Trump, she was devastated. She fears for her HBCU.

Others share her concern.

Claflin student Marquise Jackson said, “Not to have the same response as everyone else, but honestly, I am quite disappointed with the results of the election. I’m hearing things like Hillary dropped out at the last minute. My face was red from frustration.

“All I could do is ask myself, ‘How?’ How could we let an unqualified bigot become the face of this nation? Then I remembered we, the people, still have say in some of the things he does. We aren’t going back to Africa or Canada or China,” Jackson said.

“We matter. Our voices matter. I don’t even mean by constitutional rights but as our rights as people.”

Some didn’t want woman president

By John Babbit

Watching the results, it felt like the election was rigged, sophomore psychology major Brandi McFadden said.

At first Hillary was winning and at the end she actually had more of the popular vote.

“So many people didn’t vote, and there were a lot of people that voted for Trump only because (Clinton is) a woman,” McFadden said.

Hillary was the lesser of two evils and that’s why many didn’t want to vote, she said.

“Watching ‘The Simpsons,’ they predicted what was going to happen in this election. That episode was made in 2000,” McFadden said.