For this article, we conducted interviews at school focusing on Donald Trump. We interviewed people anonymously, all from very different backgrounds and ages, in order to receive a wide range of perspectives. The interviews were mainly concerning the Trump mural painted in our school on the third floor. We wanted to know how it made people feel, and if something should be done about it. Although the mural was our focus, we also wanted to understand how people felt about Trump as a person. We did this to better understand the reasoning for the opinions about the mural.
While interviewing a variety of our peers, as well as some of the staff members, about their feelings on Trump, we came across many different views on him. We asked our interviewees to give us a short phrase or a couple of words to describe their feelings. Many had very angry comments such as:
“I hate him.”
“He is stupid.”
“He’s an orange sexist bigot.”
“He exploits people for his own gain.”
“He makes me feel ashamed”
Or words such as “pretty low, awful, Orange, Oompa Loompa, scared” were used.
We also had some responses that were very interesting and unbiased:
“I love him, I love him as a human being, because I love every human being.”
“I think he has always had a good life. Never struggled. He doesn’t know how to relate and empathize with people that have.”
“I may not agree with him all of time, but I always have to respect him and his opinions.”
Many of our classmates had no opinion on Trump at all. When asking the people we see everyday, many contrasting feelings and points were brought up.
Following hearing how individuals felt about Donald Trump, we informed them of the pop art painting located on the third floor.
After hearing of the arts existence, we prompted subjects to tell us about how a painting of Trump in our school made them feel. We personally have no bias, and all responses were their own. There were a considerable number of students who were indifferent to the art piece, but some had feelings about the piece that they felt needed to be heard. There were points made that art is an expression, and no one has the right to censor art, and on the opposing side, a painting or “mural” of Trump made some students uncomfortable because of the comments he has made.
“It’s an outrage that a school with such a large Hispanic population has a painting of a man who has discriminated against us.”
“Art is an expression, and we can’t tell someone how they can or can’t feel.”
“There are better things that can be done with that space.”
“With how heated the air is surrounding this topic, I don’t believe it is a good idea for the school display such a controversial figure.”
“It is art, and art should never be censored. The painting has no degrading quotes, so no harm is truly being done.”
“Schools should not display political figures, especially when we are only showing one side of the argument.”
Overall, we gathered many views from our school’s community, and got a variety of answers. We learned different ways of thinking, broadening our perspectives. There was a significant amount of knowledgeable feedback, and we learned about the acceptance of others’ opinions.
outside of school.
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