Donald-trump

For many, January was supposed to be a month of cautious optimism. In the wake of one of the most traumatic years in our lifetimes, it should have marked the beginning of a new and hopeful political age but what the chaos on Capitol Hill showed us all is that this year must mark the age of accountability.

When mainstream media outlets first declared President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over his incumbent opponent Donald Trump early last week, community members and University affiliates flooded the streets of Morningside Heights to celebrate his victory.  In the days following, students at Columbia have begun to reflect on Biden’s triumph with tempered enthusiasm, pointing to Biden’s carceral and foreign policy records as evidence of his disconnect with current activist movements and more progressive youth audiences.

Outside Columbia’s gates, hundreds of students and community residents cheered, honked, sang, and danced to celebrate the victory of the projected president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. For many, it was the first presidential election they voted in.

We are now only a few days past November 3. While the final results of the election are still unclear, it is evident that both parties have a lot of thinking to do. The Democratic post-mortem will focus on the party’s stunning loss of seats in the House and failure to perform as expected in the race for control of the Senate. Similarly, Republicans will have to consider how their party is becoming increasingly reliant on the electoral college and figure out a way to win more suburban and college-educated voters.

The news on campus today was pretty much the same across the board: While many of us thought we’d be waking up to greet our first female president, the electoral college swung unpredictably in favor of Donald Trump.

While the world remains captivated by the now-famous fly that spotted Pence as the perfect matter of decay to feed on, I pose this question: Can we as Black and Indigenous families, whose lives depend upon policy change, truly expect to see legal justice, neighborhood development, and real community sustainability from either the Republican or Democratic presidential candidates? While close attention must be placed on the 2020 presidential election, our communities need change today. Our attention should be equally focused on opportunities for change at the federal, state, and local levels by electing leaders who prioritize full participatory policymaking, a foundation for social and economic sustainability for communities such as Harlem and the greater New York City, and will not continue to promote performative change without real solutions.

Because the upcoming presidential election this year will play a defining role in America’s political future, it’s essential to understand both the election system and the structure of the Electoral College. The American election process is complex, and its intricacies may be unfamiliar to international students who are better versed in the political processes of their home countries.

While academics often must push for their research to be publicized by news outlets, criticisms of mainstream media and the growth of informal social platforms have broadened the opportunities for academics to enter public discourse on current issues. University professors have accumulated upwards of 3 million followers on platforms such as Twitter—where their controversial ideas garner political attention and even become virally distributed.

Media sources swarmed when a Columbia School of Social Work adjunct lecturer seemed to confirm on video that presidential candidate Joe Biden is a sexual predator. The video was retweeted by a Trump aide, and both left-wing and right-wing media sites began to claim the content for their disparate political goals.

University President Lee Bollinger addressed the issue of divestment, the lack of financial aid for international and General Studies students, and his reflections on President Trump’s impeachment trial during his semesterly Fireside Chat on Thursday.