By Jacinto Caballero-George
On February 13th, there was an uproar of protesters on First Street. The people were using Presidents Day to protest against our current president and government. With signs saying things such as, “No Kings on Presidents Day,” and a striking amount saying “Deport Elon.” Many signs portrayed women, POC, and concerns about lack of queer rights, as well as many about birthright citizenship and Trump’s other immigration laws.
Benicia wasn’t the only place to hold one of these. Anti-Presidents day happened nationwide this year, most likely in correlation with the current president, his actions, and The Department Of Government Efficiency’s happenings. It was no surprise that Benicia joined this trend giving a majority of its citizens lean more left than right.
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Four Benicia High students, of various grades, were interviewed for both their knowledge and opinion on this subject. All wished to remain anonymous.
The Senior of those interviewed responded saying, “All though I think other presidents do really good work, I think it’s fair to use it as a day of protest,” when asked how they feel about president’s day considering our current president and his actions. When asked why they thought people were protesting they said, “Because the president’s doing a pretty bad job. He’s supposed to represent what America is and wants to be, and he’s not.” Then asked for a specific reason they can think of they said, “He said people somewhere were eating cats and dogs. He’s an idiot… he basically violates human rights all the time. Why wouldn’t people protest him?” When asked if there was a valid reason for protest, they said yes, going as far as saying they would participate in a protest like this because “I think he’s gonna get people killed, or worse.”
The Junior of the group said, “I personally don’t like Trump. I’m not very educated on other presidents. It’s not that deep,” when asked what they feel about a President’s Day with our current president’s actions. They said, “Sure? Freedom of speech, ya know,” when asked how they feel about Anti-Presidents Day. They said, “They don’t like the president” and “Immigration policies” as an explanation as to why there was a large plethora of people participating. They said yes four times when asked if they’d participate in a protest like this.
The Sophomore continued the interview by saying, “I think it’s [celebrating President’s Day] not about our current president.” The Sophomore continued by saying, “The vast majority of California is against Trump,” as to why they think so many people were at the protest. For a more specific reason of protest they said, “Abortion policy [and] disbanding the Department of Education.”
The Freshman said, “I think it’s supposed to celebrate past presidents. I get a day off school,” as to what they think of President’s Day with our current president.“The judicial system is corrupt,” was their given reason for why so many people were at the protest.
These interviews show that even the youth know about the corruption happening in the executive branch and that there is rightful reason to protest. The fact that each of them had a different example of a reason for protest shows how many horrible things president Trump has done in just a month of presidency. Though Anti-Presidents day has been a thing for a few years, there were a lot more people this year participating, showing regression instead of progression of democratic representation in the government.
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