Dear Editor: 

I would like to thank Edward Valencia and Guillermo Vazquez for their eloquent and well -reasoned defense of the protests against Donald Trump, his divisive campaign, and the agenda that he has laid out by his actions and choices since he won the election. 

As Mr. Vazquez points out, students who participated in a peaceful protest learned a lot that day about civics, political science, democracy and freedom of speech. And Mr. Valencia describes the many reasons why protest against Donald Trump is appropriate. 

I’d like to add that in the schools of Southern California, the threat to the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which Mr. Trump can end with the stroke of a pen, puts a significant segment of our young people at risk of having their lives torn apart. That alone is a compelling reason to for young people to make their voices heard. 

Protest has a proud history in America. Protesters demanding women's suffrage (women’s right to vote) became the first "cause" to picket outside the White House in 1917, and two years later women were granted the right to vote.

The Selma to Montgomery marches and “Bloody Sunday” in 1965 highlighted racial injustice in the South, and helped lead to the Voting Rights Act that moved the South forward in a way that would not have happened without them.

These are just two examples. The list of powerful examples of protest that changed America go on and on. And there are always many who don’t agree. Our democracy thrives on the battle of ideas, and the demands for justice have made us a better country.

Frank Kearns
Downey