“Not My President” and Gandhi

In Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj, he says that civilization is an idea created by the Western Europeans used to justify the mistreatment of the colonized. He also claims that the reason that the British controlled the Indian people was that they allowed them too, not because they are inherently better than them.

Today, American civilization is being questioned due to our new president. There have been countless protests about various policies that President Donald Trump has put in place. Members of these protests have coined the phrase “not my president”, but what does this mean?

In the United States of America, our government is lead by an elected president, Trump won the election, not by popular vote, but by electoral votes, he had 302 compared to Clinton’s 232, but had 62,979,879 votes, 2.9 million less than Clinton’s 65,844,954 votes. This is not the first time this has happened in American history and is not the most drastic case of it either. However, many of Clinton’s supporters are still rallying against Trump and his policies.

*a sign at an anti-Trump rally

On February 20, 2017, protestors got together to celebrate “Not My President’s Day”, during which they spoke out against President Trump’s executive orders, stopping immigrants from coming into the country, and his plans to defund Planned Parenthood. If these people are American citizens, how could the President of the United States of America not be their president? Well, if you look at what Gandhi said about how the Indian people were not controlled by the British, but allowed them to control them, you might see a parallel.

*a painting of M.K. Gandhi in jail

A leader cannot lead those who do not wish to be led. By that logic, the president cannot control those who don’t wish to be controlled…to an extent. If you do not obey the law, then you will be punished. Some do not mind this and will continue to speak and fight for what they believe in. Gandhi, a nonviolent man who spoke his mind and was very influential over the Indian people, was imprisoned several times, but he did not let this phase or stop him. He continued to write from his jail cell and was influential throughout that time as well.

Leaders of other movements have also gone to jail. Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail and wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, continuing to make a difference while in jail, even though it was only for a short time.

Change is possible and can be attained through nonviolent means, however you must be willing to take risks. It will be interesting to see how the remainder of President Trumps term goes and if the protests make a difference. We know that his presidency will eventually end, but will the protesting end before or after? Will he listen or will he continue to do what he and his cabinet wishes and ignore the protesters? It will likely be the latter, but who knows? Maybe we’ll be surprised.