Instead of Trump slogans in pretty colors scrawled at midnight, these individuals, whoever they are, should step away from their night-time cowardice and come out during the day to preach their sound bites.
On the morning of March 30th, the University Michigan Diag was covered in unoriginal pro-Trump messages, including a trump-sized “TRUMP” incorporating the iconic block M. Donald Trump, always drawn to garish gaudiness, would have been a fan of the oversized and carefully outlined letters.
Where there is Trump, there is racism and xenophobia. The meaningless Twitter hashtag #STOPISLAM and the oft repeated “STOP THE RAPE OF EUROPE” were also printed in all caps. Not far away was “Build a wall”. These uninspired messages, written in colorful chalk, are clearly the product of individuals with nothing better to do in the middle of the night than play with elementary school art supplies. Elementary students, however, often exhibit more creativity with their chalk.
Painting the Rock was funny. Running around in the middle of the night to chalk the Diag? Sounds kinda pathetic.
More childish than the medium, however, are the messages themselves, which were clearly calculated to be provocative rather than representative of real beliefs. Indeed, the individuals that have been seen around campus sporting “Make America Great Again” hats also happen to be those contributing least to any meaningful dialogue.
As students made their way across the Diag in the morning, the juvenile chalking drew attention on Yik Yak. Commenters weighed in with both amusement and scorn. Most comments, however, were dismissive, with a personal favorite and heavily up-voted: “Like the chalk on the diag, Donald Trump too will fade with time.”
Dismissal seems to be the best approach to dealing with such childish, attention-seeking antics. While of course these tasteless Trumpers have a right to express themselves, their message has been fittingly trampled underfoot throughout the day.
Omar Mahmood, Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Review, derided the antics. “Painting the Rock was funny. Running around in the middle of the night to chalk the Diag? Sounds kinda pathetic.”
Instead of Trump slogans in pretty colors scrawled at midnight, these individuals, whoever they are, should step away from their night-time cowardice and come out during the day to preach their sound bites. Should any individuals be brave enough to step out and take ownership of these messages I would gladly help them reserve a table just so I could come out and challenge their positions in a true embrace of free and open debate.
Of course, not all Trump people are cowards, as some students, three to be exact, have organized Students for Trump. Yet even this group was quick to denounce the overnight chalking. Cody Chipman, the founder of Students for Trump, told the Michigan Review, “We were not associated with chalking overnight on the diag. Furthermore, we find that the messages left were not in line with Mr. Trump’s views. He doesn’t nor do we wish to #StopIslam.”
