Falcon Feelings Post-Election: Luciana Rodriguez

Riverdale Review: What are your initial thoughts/takeaways following the election results?

Luciana Rodriguez: I was a little disappointed especially because we thought it was going to be a lot closer. I was greeted with a very definite answer when I woke up the next morning so it was surprising, especially because we live in New York which is very democratic and I’m kind of surrounded by that so it was shocking to see that the majority (since Trump won the popular vote) held different views than me. It felt like ‘what was next?’ When in reality I knew changes wouldn’t be implemented until Trump was inaugurated, I felt like something was going to change right away and it didn’t.

RR: Since you couldn’t vote, what issues did you feel were the most important to be voting on?

LR: The climate, which I feel is not a priority for most voters because it wasn’t talked about a lot in both of the campaigns. When Trump was president he pulled out of the Paris Accords, which just went backward on progress, and then when Biden became president we rejoined them, but Trump is going to reverse that progress again, which is especially concerning as time is running out. Trump doesn’t seem to believe that climate change is real, which is really scary. Are we going to back on the progress we have made, especially as conditions are getting worse? Also, women’s rights. The protection that was passed in New York made me feel a lot better, it feels like we’re kind of under a blanket, but I can’t imagine living in other places like down South.

RR: Do you think Riverdale should address politics and its implications in the classroom more than we already do? 

LR: I think we talked about it enough, there were spaces provided about it if you wanted them. The Lunch-and-Learns were particularly helpful. It’s hard to discuss without being biased or [to] share your views without your personal bias. We talked about it more technically in Constructing America, but the teachers did a good job of making sure everyone’s views were welcome. Everyone was very aware it was election day, maybe we could have had an assembly on it.