When I was in fifth grade, my GDS classmates and I performed in the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly. One memory that sticks out to me from that day is performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the song known as the Black National Anthem. That song reflected my own optimistic attitude towards race relations in America. For many years, I was firmly convinced that racial progress was inevitable.
Part of my optimism, I suspect, was the product of the privilege afforded by colorism—of being perceived as “white,” rather than biracial, by most white people I meet and thereby rarely experiencing racism firsthand. But I also think it mattered that the nation’s first Black president was elected just eight months after I was born and remained in the White House until I was halfway through second grade. Like many others, I was complacent as a result of the Obama presidency.
When confronted with pessimistic perspectives about race, I was often dismissive. I failed to anticipate that another presidential administration would seek to reinstitute the racial hierarchies that once dominated American life. Yet in a multitude of ways, this is precisely what the Trump administration has done. As students who are lucky to attend an institution with a commitment to racial equality that dates back 80 years, we have a special obligation to work to preserve America’s imperiled multiracial democracy.
In October, Trump radically reshaped America’s refugee system by giving priority to white South Africans while drastically reducing the overall number of refugees admitted. In an equally worrisome development, the Trump administration has effectively gutted the 1968 Fair Housing Act, one of the landmark achievements of the civil rights movement, by weakening the agency tasked with enforcing it. Without enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, discrimination against non-white homebuyers and renters may once again become commonplace, contributing to residential segregation and limiting the economic opportunities of Americans of color.
The Trump administration is sending a clear message about whose rights are worthy of protection and whose are not. In a just society, outsiders are not denied a chance to seek refuge, and citizens do not see their chances to succeed limited on the basis of identity. GDS students go to school in a city that has long stood out for its prominent Black and Latino communities. We should defend the city in which we learn by speaking out against the Trump administration as it promotes policies that diminish the proud multicultural heritage of our nation and its capital.
An order from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth led the U.S. Naval Academy to remove hundreds of books from its library that it deemed destructive, reflecting the Trump administration’s racial agenda. Among the books the Academy removed was the autobiography of acclaimed Black author Maya Angelou.
Philosopher George Santayana famously said that “those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” If students, like those at the Naval Academy, do not learn about the danger caused by discrimination, they will be more likely to be complicit when they witness it—or even hold discriminatory ideas and engage in discriminatory behavior.
Trump has a long history of overtly racist rhetoric. Yet the power of white nationalist ideology in the Trump administration, and the Republican Party as a whole, cannot be attributed to Trump alone. Hegseth is closely connected to extremist pastor Douglas Wilson, who first rose to prominence openly defending American slavery. Republican Senator Eric Schmitt (MO) made the views of the far right explicit when he addressed a conservative conference in September. According to him, only those who are the descendants of European colonists—”Christian pilgrims who poured out onto the ocean’s shores”—are truly American.
The far right movement led by Trump, as reflected in Schmitt’s statements, promotes an exclusionary view of American nationhood as based on racial and religious identity. This view has a long history in this country but stands in opposition to the core American ideals that can be traced back to the Declaration of Independence: the equality of all people and the universality of individual rights.
Advocates for racial justice—GDS students among them—must not lose hope. We should be strategic in seeking to combat white supremacy. We must remember that the vast majority of Americans, including many who voted for Trump in 2024, reject white nationalism. Yet for every white nationalist in this country, there are far more individuals who are unaware of what is occurring or unsure of how to respond. It is urgent that we convince these millions of fence-sitters that the end of racial injustice in America is not already secured but something we must fight for.
Peaceful demonstrations for racial justice stand the best chance of winning persuadable hearts and minds to our cause. Given that censorship is the oldest tool in the authoritarian’s toolkit, as reflected in Hegseth’s book bannings, we must consistently champion freedom of expression, even for those who promote racism.
Right now, the monumental achievements for which so many heroic Americans fought, and even died, are in jeopardy. What we do in this moment will determine if those achievements shall stand and if we can build upon them to create a truly just society.