To the Editor of the Phoenix:
Many of us from the classes of 1964 and ’65 were involved in the Civil Rights struggles to end second-class citizenship for African-Americans. Today as we contemplate the presidential election, we would like to urge all members of the Swarthmore community to recognize that the candidacy of Donald Trump represents the potential to take a giant step backwards to the Jim Crow era in America. The Supreme Court ruling that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act has opened the door to widespread voter suppression of African-Americans in a number of states. Trump himself has argued that the only way Hillary Clinton will win the presidency is by cheating—and has urged his followers to go to certain precincts in the Philadelphia area and make sure that no one votes who isn’t allowed to vote. If Trump is elected, he will remake the Supreme Court in ways that will permanently permit Big Money to dominate politics, and voter suppression to grow in importance. Instead of courting the new demographics, the future policies of the Republican Party will be to suppress them.
In addition, Trump’s racism and misogyny have given license to the worst elements of American culture and our body politic. If he wins, people sharing such views will be even more emboldened. Our nation will begin moving backwards, undoing over 50 years of progress.
Young people formed the bedrock of the Obama coalition. African-American votes delivered crucial majorities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other battleground states. With Pennsylvania appearing as a firewall to protect Hillary Clinton’s electoral majority, we urge all members of the Swarthmore community to resist the attractions of a protest vote for either Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. The future of the entire country may very well be decided in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Sincerely,
Mike Meeropol ’64
Barbara Kline King ’64
Peggy Colvin Tropp ’64
Friedner Wittman ’64
Allan Berlind ’64
Alan Feingold ’64
Cathe Winn Wright ’64
Bernie Banet ’64
Anne Cochran Sloan ’64
Gavin Wright ’65
John Oliver Simon ’64
Archer Dodson Heinzen ’64
Joe Bernheim ’64
Peter Freedman ’64
Susana Roberts Davison ’64
Marion Colby Foster ’64
Sue Zinn Eisenger ’64
Terese Loeb Kreuzer ’64
Diana Bailey Harris ’64
Rev. Janet Kelly Brown ’64
Louis Jung Elbaum ’64
Connie Brown Egleson ’64
Lydia Razran Stone ’64
Peter Miller ’64
Robin Smith Chapman ’64
Walter Pinkus ’65
Richard Weeks ’64
David M. Rice ’64
Lucy Fuchsman Cherbas ’64
Rosita Sarnoff ’64
Samuel Worthington ’64
Meg Hodgkin Lippert ’64
