We, the Spartan Daily, call San José State University, Associated Students of San José State, city government officials and the broader community to recognize and resist President Donald J. Trump’s erasure of human rights and blatant attack on freedom in the United States of America.
As lawsuits continue to pile up, President Trump has abused his power to try to revoke federal funding at universities across the U.S. that do not follow his agenda and deport international students for participating in activities that “run counter” to national interests.
He has made it abundantly clear that his administration’s goal is to become a fascist regime.
Education is among the first of fascism’s victims, disarming its citizens with the realities faced by our most vulnerable communities.
In Mussolini’s fascist Italy, state control over public and private life greatly expanded
He appointed nine people to the Ministry of Education — only five had teaching experience and nearly all were loyalists, according to an April 7, 2023, Scientific American article.
After Mussolini solidified his power, he placed extreme restrictions on curriculum and public discourse, which had to conform to his fascist ideology and pseudoscience. Not to mention his ideas of racial superiority and national pressure on women to be mothers, according to the same source.
Trump’s America is looking increasingly similar.
Meanwhile, institutions such as SJSU have already made moves in restricting our freedoms in the form of punishing protesters.
Nearly a year ago, students and faculty formed an encampment on Smith and Carlos lawn where students called for a ceasefire and divestment from corporations that support Israel, according to a May 15, 2024, article from The Mercury News.
These protests were in response to Israel’s genocidal actions against Palestine, described by U.N. experts and its special committee.
The university made it clear that free speech protections had a limit by disciplining students, citing that protesting students were violating the university’s revised “Time, Place and Manner” policy.
These institutions – including SJSU – and individuals with privilege and power must protect these basic freedoms that every person in the U.S. deserves.
Rather than putting restrictions on when students can speak up, universities need to stand with them, not bend to this administration’s assault on the First Amendment.
Now is not the time for leaders in our community, locally and nationally, to remain silent and complacent about this attack.
We have seen examples of solidarity in action with Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong proudly protesting the Trump administration alongside the San José and Bay Area community at the April 19, 50501 protest at St. James Park, according to an April 20 post on Supervisor Duong’s Instagram.
These movements of solidarity should not be taboo.
Merely because an individual has risen to political or corporate power does not mean they aren’t a part of our community.
While student government leaders have advocated for the rights of our student community successfully, there have been recent examples of A.S. leaders not fulfilling their organization’s “legacy of student advocacy.”
On Feb. 26, Associated Students of SJSU crafted a resolution in support of transgender rights, which was met with pushback from members of the organization, according to a Feb. 27 Spartan Daily article.
In response to this resolution, two executive board members opposed this attempt at recognizing and protecting the trans and LGBTQIA+ community at San José State, while three abstained from the vote.
A.S. eventually passed a letter of support to the trans community after the failed resolution and has still not passed a resolution, according to a March 19 Spartan Daily article.
It should not be up to members of vulnerable communities to advocate for themselves alone.
Laying differences aside and uniting as one to combat the government’s unconstitutional attacks on human rights is the only way we can create tangible change.
We must all take a stance against this abuse of power and rising fascism before it is too late.
