Protestors were gathered in Midtown on Sunday afternoon (2/19/17) to protest the recent ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries. This includes the countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

When talking to a protestor, who wished to stay unnamed, about his sign that read “First amendment first!” he said that he believed the first amendment was “critically important” he also said this: “We’ve got a president determined to trample on the first amendment and therefore America.” The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” But when our President works around our rights in the form of executive orders our protest and our voice becomes our democracy.

However democracy has become very clouded in our nation. How democratic is a government that chooses a President based on just the vote a few electors? And furthermore, how democratic is a nation whose electors elect presidents who have the minority vote? It has turned our current system of government into a fascist system. Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco and Adolf Hitler all created fascist governments. Something that has become textbook knowledge for some reason has lost its pungency and history is slowly repeating itself before our eyes.

When Hitler rose into power he promised a few things to the German people. They were facing a time when the country was under control of the Allied powers after they had just defeated Germany in World War I and they were given this man who promised to make Germany great again. This leader turned the nation into a fascist regime. A regime that was hard to shake.

Later when that government split and Joseph Stalin was in control of East Germany he put up the Berlin Wall. The Centre for Contemporary History has said that the wall had accounted for 139 deaths.

The current state of the nation make us scared and nervous but protests like the one today put hope in the hearts of many Americans. Organizing peacefully has become our way to show democracy.