Donald Trump.

Yes, I said it. President Trump is often quite controversial for people; however, for senior Dylan Case, “he’s a victory for Americans.”
It’s not easy being a Trump fan at H-F.

“I’m an outcast because I don’t have the same views as other people, and it doesn’t help that I’m a little out there with them,” Case said. “It’s just an opinion.”

Understanding your opponents is a key factor in creating a more balanced society. By talking to Case, I still have my own opinions, but I can see the value in opening up conversations, instead of living in an echo chamber of single political views.

Race Relations.
Donald Trump has said that Black Lives Matters and President Barack Obama are reasons for division over race in America.

Case believes this is one of our country’s core issues right now.

“People refuse to see people as people. They always categorize and that’s the problem with our nation,” he said.

I understand not everyone has witnessed the way a country can turn against you because of the color of your skin, so they might not understand what everyone else feels.

Case is not in favor of removing Confederate statues. He thinks they are a part of history.

“I’ve never considered the Confederate flag as racist; it’s a part of history,” Case said. “I never believed in the tearing down of the statues of Stone Wall Jackson or Robert E. Lee because they’ve been there for centuries and you can’t change history.”

Again, I disagreed with him. The Confederacy was formed because the South wanted to keep slaves for the extra revenue they brought in for their fields with the more labor they had.

Why should we continue to celebrated the actions of a group that wanted to keep slavery? Why should we celebrate our history with statues of slave supporters?

The Pledge.

Another issue Case and I discussed was the pledge and the debate on whether you should stand or not.

Many students here sit during the pledge, something Case disagrees with.

“The pledge represents us as Americans coming together and making things better even though things aren’t always great,” Case said. “If you don’t stand for the pledge to stand together, then you’re just saying screw this I’m not going to progress.”

But people don’t stand because we’re not progressing – it’s ironically a way to take a stand. We are supposed to be able to express our opinions without backlash from our president.

Police Brutality.

In America we’ve been having this constant debate on police brutality; it has been a heated topic across several presidents, each with their own takes on the matter. So I decided to ask Case about it.

“I looked it up and the statistic on cop killings is like getting struck by lightning, and we’re not protesting storms,” Case said.

After some research on this statistic, I found that, on average, a police officer takes a civilian’s life every seven hours in America.

Immigration.

Case appreciates that Trump wants to keep illegal immigrants out of the country.

However, I don’t agree with keeping illegal immigrants out when it’s so hard to gain citizenship to begin with. I don’t think we should respect a president that doesn’t understand the way it works and how hard it is.

America fosters a certain kind of thinking that’s based upon fear and misinformation.

Although, I may not agree with Case’s statements, I’m stronger for listening to him. We all need to listen to what others have to say because if we don’t then we’re just like those close-minded people we criticize.