A Cold Political November
In the past few weeks it has become very apparent that the world for better or worse is going through a change, as the democracy created and practised by one of the most influential countries in the world is called to question. Where do refugees and minorities fit when the fundamental beliefs of many are met with resistance from the political policies of a few?
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, banned all discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin. Donald Trump is determined however to reverse this, to ban entire nationalities. There is no rational moral link that justifies ignoring the 1965 Act and therefore it is unsurprising that so many across the world rose up to protest Trump’s immigration policy.
Royal Holloway’s English PEN society organised an anti-Trump rally, in solidarity with those threatened by President Trumps immigration ban. The march began at the Hub, with at least 100 people moving through campus.
For many the rally, last Thursday, was a matter of basic human decency to attend and they marched for those that they loved and for a future where they could look back in the history, knowing they had done something.
But there were also unanswered questions of whether this rally would be enough to alter our Prime Minister’s relationship with the US let alone the policy of another country. The reason the USA has elicited such a display of global solidarity around the world, even though they are not the first nation to implement an isolationist immigration policy, such as Australia’s policy to refuse any refugees who arrive by boat, is because the US, for the longest time, have the largest influence on global societies moral standard.
The rally was fuelled with passion and anger against white supremacy, fascism, islamophobia and racism. Theresa’s name was also thrown into this list. There was an interesting moment that night when those who supported Trump’s travel ban stood out amongst the crowd, carrying ‘make America great again’ banners. Anger against the system that night eventually turned into debate and discourse with others who did not necessarily agree with the libertarian views of the majority. This was especially important as it was the growing division and lack of communication that many attribute to Donald Trump’s campaign success.
But it is hard not to ask that, when you take away all of the compassionate anger of the night, will the momentum of this cause continue?
Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front party predicted 2017 “will be the year of the Continental peoples rising up.” So how can further howls of dissent, against unbalanced power in democracy, shape the uncertainty of our own country’s future as Theresa May’s government leads an independent United Kingdom?
This article was written in November of 2016 after the election of Donald Trump, as a ‘What a Week’ News feature following an Anti-Trump Rally at Royal Holloway University of London.
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