Nation Not Treading Lightly in Unchartered Territory:

November 27, 2016 | 

by Roberto Rodriguez

Without question, this country is in unchartered territory. People across the country continue to express themselves in despair. Others in fear. Some panic, while still others prepare. Of course, many have staged numerous protests from coast to coast.

In response to the aftermath of the elections, some 150 college and university presidentshave banded together to express their concern regarding the rise in hate crimes across the country. The unexpected presidential results have emboldened racial supremacists and misogynists across the country, including on the campuses of colleges and universities nationwide. 

For rest of column, go to Diverse Issues in Higher Education:

http://diverseeducation.com/article/89619/

Trump has Undocumented Students and Their Families Scrambling

November 17, 2016 | :
by Roberto Rodriguez

By now a great majority of the country seems to have arrived at the stage of the worst political hangover any of us have ever experienced. Yet no one is feeling this hangover more so than the undocumented community. This election represents both the rise of fascism, and, literally, an existential threat to students and their families nationwide, including and especially the nearly 1 million college students that have been enrolled under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

It is this program which has afforded them the opportunity to enroll in college without fear of deportation. While they and their families are scrambling, they are also fighting back and are doing so within the context that a colleague, Liliana Patricia Saldaña, an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, describes:

“The candidate who began his campaign with anti-Mexican hate, promising to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. The candidate who has a disturbing record of sexually assaulting women and allegedly raping women. The candidate who promised to ban Muslims from entering this country. The man who mocks our disabled brothers and sisters. The candidate who is queerphobic with his support of right wing homophobic right wing extremists. And the man who hates the Black Lives Matter movement and Black people in general. This is the person who was elected president in 2016.”

Part of the political climate necessitates also challenging the mainstream narrative that the GOP nominee won handily and thus has a mandate, especially in regard to his immigration policies. It is projected that, when all the votes are counted, his opponent will have won by some 2 million votes. Donald Trump’s rise to power will have been the result the Electoral College, and not the will of the people.

For the rest of the column, go to: http://diverseeducation.com/article/89407/

TODOS SOMOS ZAPATISTAS

Historical Appreciation: Reflecting on the 2016 Presidential Election
November 11, 2016 | :

by Roberto Rodriguez

On election night, I received hundreds of messages from friends and colleagues from throughout the country. Most seemed to be in utter disbelief. When I got to campus in the morning, I went into the student lounge where I came upon students who were crying.

All day, everyone kept asking me: “How do you feel?”

Strong and determined, primarily because I was prepared. In large part, because I come from peoples who were subjected to the worst genocide in human history (tens of millions) and thus, despair and hopelessness, which I initially have seen all around me, are not part of my reality.

“It is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees.” That was Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata’s admonition. This is the precise time we should be summonsing the wisdom and courage of our ancestors, whether they be indigenous, African or Asian, etc. Perhaps we will all soon be declaring: “We are all Zapatistas.”

Soy macehual and like millions like me, I come from the south, and I am related to all the original peoples of this continent, and I acknowledge that it is our ancestors who already have done the suffering for us.

While I have come across people who believe that the election was irrelevant and that both candidates were equally evil, most people I have come across appear to be genuinely horrified by the results. This is what caused me to remember that I come from peoples that have endured hundreds of years of efforts to exterminate us. As is commonly said in indigenous circles: “We were never meant to survive.” And yet we are here.

For the rest of the column, go here: http://diverseeducation.com/article/89127/

Election 2016 and Revisiting the New Jim & Juan Crow

As we all know, for probably three-fourths of the electorate ― between women and people of color ― the choice for president should have been a no-brainer. Essentially, the choice was made for us; that’s how many people one candidate intentionally insulted.

Along with that, promises by politicians don’t impress. For many, day-to-day issues matter more than slick propaganda. For example, this past semester I taught Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow.” The topic of her book ― the drug war and the criminalization of people of color, which has wreaked untold havoc on the country ― should be front and center in this political campaign. Yet it isn’t. Instead, it has been National Enquirerheadlines. 

For rest of column, go to:

http://diverseeducation.com/article/89022/