Many people to date have spoken up against the idea of Donald Trump being president of the country. Most of those people are political pundits, journalists and heads of various organizations. Trump even has people within the leadership of his own party saying that he would be a disaster for the future of Republicans across the United States. This has not dulled down support for Trump among his fanatical and sometimes questionable base. Trump appears to be escalating his rhetoric and doubling down on some of his most controversial ideas or claims. Although many adults have weighed in about Trump, not many children have yet.
A picture appeared recently on Reddit showing what is supposed to be an essay that was written by a student in third grade. The essay is titled “I have a dream 2016” at the top. It appears it might have been an assignment given to students on Martin Luther King Jr. Day or as part of Black History Month. The student begins the letter “I have a dream that Donald Trump will not be President. But if he does all Asians, Africans and Mexicans have to go back to their country.”
The student is referencing the overall sentiment that Trump has been pushing since entering the race to be the Republican nominee for president. That sentiment is that minorities seem to be a problem in the United States. Trump regularly makes inflammatory statements against immigrants, Mexicans, Africa-Americans and even women. He has called for the deportation of millions. He wants to ban Muslims from immigrating or entering the country. Many of the statements Trump makes are met with ravenous applause from his audience of supporters. The child might have picked up on this by listening to his parents or just by watching television.
The essay goes on with several grammatical, statistical and spelling errors “Without them the U.S.A population will go down to 12,000 people only. Most enginners are Indian then their won’t be no tecnolegy!” The letter finishes with the odd but funny idea that “without tecnolgy theirs no NETFLIX without netlix theirs no chill. Is that a world you what to live in NO!” The child then signs the letter with the name “Krish” at the bottom. The letter appears to be written in pencil in printed letters instead of cursive.
There is some considerable question as to whether this is actually an authentic essay from a third grader handed in as a school assignment. The essay popped up on Reddit with little information from the poster other than it came from a friend who was a teacher. The spelling and grammar mistakes in the essay are inconsistent causing many to believe it was an intentional forgery. A final point being made is that the child appears to be referencing the modern colloquialism “Netflix and chill” in a casual and almost sarcastic way. The idea that the young student would understand what that means and be able to use it within this type of context seems a little unbelievable.
Although the letter might not be from a real student, the points made within it are perfectly valid. Donald Trump has been using rhetoric that fires up a particular racist type of person in the Republican base. Those people and Trump would probably be more than happy to see the country become a homogenous land of mostly Caucasian Christian individuals who were born in one of the 50 states. Mass deportations and immigration bans would stifle innovation and the economy in so many ways. Hate and bigotry are winning out over reason, compassion and empathy for Trump and those following him.
