The Runner Staff
Chants of “not my president” and “love trumps hate” rang through southwest Bakersfield as a peaceful protest was held rejecting newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump.
As violent anti-Trump protests have spread and grown across the United States following the Nov. 8 elections, Bakersfield’s anti-Trump protesters kept their activism peacefully during the Nov. 11 march.
Over 100 protesters came out to voice their disappointment with the Nov. 8 election results.
“I’ve come out here because I’m very disappointed in the election results and I think Donald Trump is a very big threat for America,” said Dolores Huerta Foundation Community Organizer Dean Welliver. “I think he’s a threat for all of our LGBT population, our immigrant population, our Muslim population, our disabled population, our women, pretty much anybody that isn’t in the same identity category as Donald Trump.”
Others joined the protest as allies and in support of those who were voicing their beliefs.
“This is a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” said 18-year-old Jacob McClain. “I’m not speaking over anybody. I’m letting everyone else do the talking because I don’t have experience with any type of oppression, so I don’t have anything to say from my point of view. I can just be an ally.”
Not all of the protesters in the area were anti-Trump. A few counter-protesters marched with American flags and signs that read “deal with it.”
“We’re basically just out here protesting a protest. That’s what makes America great they can protest and we can counter protest,” said new Army recruit Isaiah Acosta, 19. “I’m not a hater or anything; I’m a man of color as well. It’s just how I was raised.”
With her “black lives matter” sign held high in the sky, organizer and Golden Valley High School student Nathallie Hughes, 17, led the protesters from the Kern County Republican Headquarters to the corner of California Avenue and Stockdale Highway on foot.
Hughes, who also organized the Black Lives Matter protest back in July, said the reason she organized this protest was to unify the community after tough times, the need for love and strength and to be able to gather around like-minded people who share the same struggle.
People driving by honked in support of the protest while some yelled “Trump 2016.”
The protest continued through the evening despite some people throwing eggs at the protesters.
Many of those attending were not there because Trump was elected president, but rather because of what has happened in America since Trump was elected president.
The results of the election are what brought CSU Bakersfield alumna Valeria Garcia to the event.
“I hope that the American people realize that condoning actions like this is not OK,” said Garcia. “I hope that people finally get around to getting rid of the electoral college.”
Garcia wasn’t the only one that shared her distaste for the electoral college.
Bakersfield resident Jennifer Armantrout shared a similar sentiment.
“We need to get rid of the electoral college,” said Armantrout. “Trump is a reprobate toad, and that’s an insult to the toads.”
