Protesters at President Trump’s Bedminster Golf Club

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Alec Miller, Staff Writer

It was a beautiful August day in Bedminster, NJ.  Temperatures were moderate despite the summer season, but tensions were red hot.  Recent events in Charlottesville, VA fueled debates, protests, and demonstrations about Civil War monuments, racism, and President Donald Trump.  While President Trump was in residence at his Bedminster golf club, protesters embraced their First Amendment rights.  Hoisting signs that read, “Dump Trump” and “Stop Racism Now,” they lined the corner of the intersection of Route 206 and Lamington Rd.  In hopes of understanding the agenda of these individuals, and perhaps in anticipation of bringing people together, I seized the opportunity and headed over to the corner to speak with these protesting citizens.

I first met a man from Bedminster who declined to identify himself.  I questioned him about his dislikes of our 45th president.  In his opinion, President Trump was “unfit for the job” and that he “was not thoughtful enough.”  I was most struck, however, with his statement that he believed that President Trump was “un-American.”  Nonetheless, he refused to expound upon his reasoning for this bold proclamation.  Next, I questioned him as to whether he prefers politicians who routinely spew lies to appease the public or a President who speaks his mind in the interest of transparency.  The gentleman from Bedminster responded that he wants representatives who “are honest and speak the truth yet are kind.”  Finally, I asked him to explain to me the difference between President Obama’s support of the Black Lives Matters movement, a divisive group that encouraged the murder of police officers, and President Trump’s comments regarding the presence of wrong-doing on both sides of the Charlottesville tragedy.  At this point Mr. Bedminster became visibly upset and said “I hope you don’t mean that question.”  He then directed me to a YouTube video made by Arnold Schwarzenegger about white supremacists to further my education on this matter.  It was at this point that he ended the interview, without answering my question.

Then I soke with Suzanne, a graduate student at Rutgers University.  She generally disliked President Trump for “the overall hatred that comes out of his mouth.”  She also found him to be “very non-presidential” yet failed to expound upon her reasons.  I then asked her what was so offensive about Confederate statues.  She responded that “they represent racism and the support of slavery.”  When I tried to point out that slavery was only one of many causes of the Civil War, she became quite bristly and told me that “you better speak with your history teacher.”  Yet again, the interview came to a screeching halt.  At this time, I felt like an uneasy interloper as tensions grew around me, and I made my exit without haste.

My question now is, where does it end?  If everything offensive must be removed from public display, what about statues of the slave owners George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?  Is a man defined merely by one aspect of his life?   Should not people be judged according the morals and ethics of the time in which they lived?  And what about the President?  Does he not deserve the respect of the office he occupies?  Finally, if we are to preach tolerance, should we not be tolerant of all?   Perhaps we should take a moment to truly listen to each other and to learn the facts as they are, not as they may be reported.   After all, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.