Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez, two of the national Co-Chairs of January’s Women’s March on Washington, have some news about the current state of the country: Even if Donald Trump hadn’t been elected last November, they still would have protested the new president.
Speaking at Her Conference in New York City on Saturday, Sarsour and Perez explained that Trump “didn’t bring anything new” with him to the White House. Instead, “he pulled back the covers on the ‘isms’ that already existed in this country,” Sarsour said. One stat that shows that? The 53 percent of white women who voted for Trump—women who decided Trump's sexism or racism wasn't a dealbreaker.
The two women—who were both activists long before the current administration—talked about protesting government policies during the Obama presidency, and reminded the audience that even if Trump weren’t president, Congress would still be 80 percent male with an average age of 58 years old. Not exactly representative of most of the U.S., and definitely not representative of college women.
So, yeah—there’s a lot of work left to do. And the Women’s March Co-Chairs want people to know that there’s room for everyone in the movement, especially students.
“Every movement has been led by young people, by students, when they say ‘we have had enough,’” Perez said.
Inspired yet? Watch the rest of the talk here:
