“Disappointed” doesn’t begin to explain how Brandice Schnabel feels about President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory last week.
“I’m heartbroken,” she said. “Just really scared.”
Schnabel, of North Canton, participated in a march against Trump in Akron that stepped off late Tuesday night. She was joined by hundreds of other protesters who believe Trump is unfit for the presidency. The protesters convened in Highland Square and trekked about two and a half miles to the University of Akron campus.
Schnabel had hoped Trump’s opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would win so that she could show her 2½-year-old daughter that women can be anything.
“I was so excited to bring her to the polls. She pressed all the buttons for me,” Schnabel said. “I was really excited for her to see America’s first female president at such a young age.”
Instead, though, Trump defied many pollsters’ projections and soared to victory.
Trump’s win has sparked rallies and marches across the country. Unlike ones in California and New York, which resulted in arrests, injuries and U.S. flag burnings, Tuesday night’s protest in Akron was deliberately peaceful. Event coordinators reminded participants they weren’t there to engage in civil disobedience, and protest marshals worked to keep participants on sidewalks to avoid breaking any laws.
The sentiment of peace was clear. While about a dozen counter-protesters marched on the other side of the street, a woman turned to her friends with a grin.
“They’d love it if we fought with them,” she said. “But we won’t do that. That’s not why we’re here.”
A little behind them was Kay, who asked her last name not be published. Kay, a 30-year-old white woman, carried a sign reading, “White people: Do better.”
Asked about her sign, Kay said she felt white people must look out for people of oppressed ethnicities because white people have nothing to lose.
“We have an important responsibility to listen to people of color, and I think we messed up big time by electing Trump,” she said. “As a white person, it pains me to know a white supremacist is on the way to the White House. It shouldn’t be that way.”
Many of the protesters felt just as strongly. They said they felt Trump would not protect the rights of minorities. They pointed to rhetoric he espoused on the campaign trail, including his calls to end marriage equality, deport undocumented immigrants and block all Muslims from coming into the country. They were also outraged about a 2006 audio recording in which he bragged he could grope women without their consent because he’s famous.
That’s why Ken Ditlevson and his husband, Joe Rohr, attended the march.
“He’s legitimized hatred,” Ditlevson said, referring to a wave of hate crime that has followed Trump’s victory.
Rohr agreed.
“He’s opened Pandora’s box,” he said.
The men each carried a sign and wore flags draped on their backs. Ditlevson’s sign read “Black Lives Matter,” in reference to the movement of the same name, and a rainbow gay pride flag. Rohr, with an American flag worn like a cape, held a sign reading “Not my president.”
Asked why they attended the march, Rohr said he wanted to protect the right for same-sex couples to marry.
“We waited a long time to be married,” he said, “and I want to make sure other gay people can do the same.”
Ditlevson said he marched to show support for fellow minorities.
“There’s too much hate. Every minority needs to be represented,” he said, “and I don’t believe Trump stands for all of us.”
Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ or on Facebook @JournoNickGlunt .