The Swamp logo

Dear Donald,

I'm not sorry to see you go...

By Jennifer RyanPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
2

When you took office four years ago, I watched my students struggle as they listened to people chanting ‘build the wall’. The children I teach are primarily Hispanic/Latinx and they went from being worried about what kinds of anger had arisen during the campaign to watching people they didn’t know screaming invectives at them and degrading every part of who they are simply because they weren’t born in this country. I watched the shock, dismay, and actual fear that my 13-year-olds were feeling show on their faces.

The day after the election two children chanted ‘build the wall’ in my hallway and I shut them down, but not before everyone heard them. My students heard their peers telling them they weren’t welcome because they didn’t look or sound ‘right’. My students were explicitly told they were unwelcome because of who they were. The unspoken horror of every 13-year-old is that they don’t belong…and you made that their entire world.

You terrified them, you belittled them, and they learned how many people hated them because they were Hispanic/Latinx because the people that screamed at them and about them the loudest were your rabid supporters who were racists and bigots.

I have worked with this student population for 25 years and I have never seen them treated so badly by such innocuous looking people. White-haired Santa bearded men swearing at them, lavender haired grandmas looking at them and talking about them like they were trash, and the people their own age who told them it was no big deal and they were overreacting and they needed to stop taking everything so seriously. They were told you weren’t talking about them, as you were talking about them. They were told you were just making a point, as you ended DACA and eliminated the protections Dreamers relied on. They were told it wasn’t as bad as they were making things out to be as they watched children like them put in cages and separated from their parents. They were not imagining it, but were gaslit every step of the way to make them feel like they might be.

I remember the child that showed up mid year with his school paperwork signed by the Department of Homeland Security. I remember him telling the story of leaving his home to avoid gangs. I remember looking at a child and thinking how brave he was to have undertaken that journey alone. He was alone because his parents had already come, but he had stayed with his older sister because he didn’t want to leave his whole life behind. When it simply because too dangerous for him to live safely, he was out of choices and made the journey by himself. Let me say this again. A child the same age as Barron, who you have a Presidential detail protecting, struck out on his own to cross multiple borders and try to find asylum to avoid being made a gang member and even though he made it to America, he wasn’t reunited with his parents because they were in hiding to avoid being sent back to the country they came from. While your child slept in a soft warm bed and ate hot meals and went on vacations to Florida, this child was sleeping on the ground being moved along the trail by coyotes who didn’t care about it as anything more than a payday.

I have watched my students grow up and new students have come through my classroom and I watched them all take part in Un Dia Sin Immigrantes marches and moments of silence. I cried, often. I watched them grow up so fast, too fast, because you created a world that reflected your pettiness and hate and they had to live in it.

I have watched them learn to despise you and learn to generalize about all politicians and all people who look like us. Yes, I look like you, and the thought that any of my students might think I am anything like you disgusts me. You are a vile example of humankind. You are greedy, divisive, cruel, and intellectually you have the capacity of a four-year-old. I loathe you with every fiber of my being and I cannot wait for the day I can stop saying ‘45’ when referring to the President because even saying your name makes me ill.

You are, for lack of a better word, an abomination. I cannot wait to see the back of you as you leave a place you should never have had access to.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Or do, frankly I think that’s the least you deserve.

Sincerely,

A Middle School History and Civics Teacher

opinion
2

About the Creator

Jennifer Ryan

I write on a wide range of topics from different perspectives so if you look around you'll probably find something you like. If you do find something you like, please share with your friends on social media. Thank you so much for reading.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.