Protesters want HutchCC students to listen to Palestine side of conflict

By Kaleb Moore
Staff Writer
IG: kalebmoore05

Election season is in full swing. The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has taken place, and as the dust settled, people across the country began to formulate thoughts and opinions for one candidate or another.

Most young people possess an understandable distaste for politics, as it is messy and causes divides between even the closest of families. However, there are some who will voice their opinions and try to sway a person’s ideals one way or another.

In the Hutchinson Community College main parking lot on Thursday afternoon, outside Shears Technology Center, Quincey Baker and Zaniya Yasser engaged in a peaceful protest, holding a sign that encouraged passersby to think about being pro-Palestine.

There is a conflict between Israel and the people of Palestine, which started when terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel in October. It has affected the lives of many citizens globally, including those in a small Kansas town such as Hutchinson.

Baker, a HutchCC student studying web development, had one goal: he wanted students to simply see and listen.

“My main target is people already seeking an education to learn and know about this conflict,” Baker said.

Historically, Republican and Democrat parties have dominated the polls, with third party candidates rarely garnering enough support. In fact, since 1900, the closest a third party candidate came to winning the popular vote was when former president Theodore Roosevelt formed his own party, the “Progressive Party”, and received approximately 27% of the popular vote. He lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson by a 14% margin. Thus, voters tend to stray from voting third party.

Baker does not agree with that ideology.

“Third party votes are not a wasted vote,” Baker said. “I know people think it is a wasted vote, but if enough people vote third party it can apply good pressure to the other two candidates.” Baker named Jill Stein as an independent to vote for, who received close to 1% of the popular vote when she ran for the Green Party in 2016.

The other participant in the protest, Zaniya Yasser, was not familiar with the third party stigma, saying, “I am from Pakistan, so I am not too familiar with the third party vote being a waste.”

Voting for an independent candidate does not usually yield success. However, with the growth of discomfort between the voters in the gray and those already decided between Republican or Democrat, any vote is a valuable vote and more people should understand that.

Conflict and disagreement have plagued the home of Lady Liberty, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. People love to talk about change and a better tomorrow, but opportunities for that don’t arise every single day. This year could be different. Every citizen of the United States has that power. All anyone has to do to change the future of their town, district, state, or country at large is to get up and take action.

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