Former President Donald Trump is once again officially the president-elect of the United States. The 2024 election was bound to be historic for many reasons. Most notably, our nation was faced with a choice: to elect the first woman or first felon as president. Over 74 million Americans decided to vote in favor of the felon, leaving us (and many others) shocked and confused.
Amid Trump’s re-election, many are finding themselves uncertain of what is to come. We feel that his policies regarding education, journalism, minorities and various other subjects are cause for alarm. Many young adults, including us, feel these proposed policies weighing heavily on our minds, as we prepare to inherit the country from older generations.
During his campaign, Trump said he would like to dismantle the Department of Education. The Department is responsible for coordinating federal assistance to education and establishing policy for administrators. It appears that Trump would leave education up to the state governments to determine the course of education.
During Trump’s first presidential term, he proposed billions in budget cuts to the Department of Education. Using federal funding as leverage, K-12 schools could be pressured to abolish tenure tracks and adopt merit pay for teachers. This is upsetting as many schools across the country already struggle in regard to their funding. Not only that, but this proposition reflects an attitude of mistrust and disregard towards educators.
We feel these policies would be extremely harmful. Trump’s campaign has also advocated for federally enforced classroom discussion guidelines. In states with predominantly right-wing politicians, there likely would be a lack of education surrounding issues such as racism and misogyny, which still persist today. We’re all familiar with the saying “history repeats itself.” We’re worried that federal censorship of education on important issues would condone ignorance, and ultimately harm the U.S. education system.
We believe this is an attempt to limit the education of U.S. history, which is important to acknowledge if we want to move forward as a progressive society. With less funding and content restrictions, education in the U.S will decrease in quality if Trump’s policies are upheld.
Not only that, many content restrictions are in relation to queer and transgender communities. Under such restrictions, LGBTQ+ communities wouldn’t be acknowledged in schools even though queer and transgender youth will always exist. We see this policy as a restriction for LGBTQ+ youth to access a safe and supportive learning environment.
Trump is not the first politician to make threats to the Department of Education. According to an Education Week article, multiple previous Republican leaders such as former President Ronald Reagan and former Kansas Senator Bob Dole pushed for similar initiatives during their time in office. The furthest their attempts reached was a 91-page memo written by Reagan’s Education Secretary, Terrel H. Bell, which proposed extreme changes to the education system in 1981.
In Trump’s first term as president, a proposal was drafted to merge education with the U.S. Department of Labor in 2018, but it was unsuccessful. It’s difficult to tell exactly how he will approach education reform this time around, as it has only been broadly referenced in his campaign platform.
Project 2025’s plan, however, expresses intentions to essentially bulldoze the Department, converting specific funds (including the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act) and ending Title IX. While the spearhead of the work, the Heritage Foundation, and individual creators of the proposed plan have been linked to Trump in a number of ways, the president-elect has publicly denied any association with Project 2025’s plans.
Considering the state of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, we find the Act to be more valuable than ever. According to Psychology Today, the rise in diagnoses for conditions such as autism and ADHD are a direct result of society’s acknowledgment of neurodiversity. It is clear that having resources like those provided by the Disabilities Act are essential.
In addition, we as journalists are worried about the state of the media during the coming Trump presidency. We’ve seen Trump deny factual reporting from journalists and declare false content as accurate or factual reporting as false. We believe his attitude toward the media deters the general public’s access to true information. That behavior from the country’s president is extremely harmful to the American people and makes navigating politics even more difficult.
We feel Trump’s presidency would also significantly impact marginalized groups across the country. Trump and his fellow Republican politicians have used racist rhetoric when referring to immigrants and people of color. Somehow, these comments, and his general attitude toward minorities, were not a deal-breaker for many voters.
His reelection has already influenced behavior toward marginalized groups of society. Following Election Day, on Nov. 7, text messages were sent out nationwide to African American citizens, including GVSU students. The texts’ wording varied, but the majority told recipients they had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” Messages such as these were reported in at least 20 states, resulting in people of color across the country feeling instantly targeted and unsafe following the election results.
People of color haven’t been the only minority group faced with hateful attitudes and comments post-election. On Nov. 8, the consistently racist and antisemitic livestreamer Nick Fuentes posted a video to social media rejoicing in Trump’s victory saying, “Hey, b*tch, we control your bodies! Guess what, guys win again.”
Fuentes spoke in reference to Trump’s support of abortion bans, celebrating the widespread notion among right-wing supporters that control over individuals’ reproductive systems is a victory. Slogans such as “Your body, our choice” have also been circulating through the media since Trump was declared winner. We believe Fuentes’ comments and similar slogans are a direct result of voting someone so blatantly hateful and misogynistic into the presidential office.
As a result of harmful rhetoric from the president-elect himself, women across the country have expressed feelings of disparity and hopelessness. We think that during the upcoming Trump presidency, sexist and misogynistic comments can only be expected to rise. We are nervous to witness the trickle-down effects his misogynistic rhetoric might have on America.
While many people in the U.S. are struggling with fears or questions about Trump’s upcoming presidency, we want to remind our readers that we are not helpless to invoking change. It is our job as American citizens to stay updated and informed on political actions being taken by the government, and to push back against policies and behaviors that are harmful to the American people. In addition to this, we urge individuals who are feeling stressed or uncertain about the future to take care of their mental health, and to reach out to resources in which support can be found.
