Chapter 10: “Will Donald Trump Knock our School Down if he Doesn’t Like it?”: Creating and Teaching Civics Curriculum in Contentious Times

The state of democracy (or lack thereof) in the United States is currently at a crossroads. After 8 years of progressive leadership under President Obama, Donald J. Trump became the 45th President of the United States on November 8, 2016. His election represented a stark contrast to the previous administration in terms of policy and message. Trump himself spurred hateful rhetoric and actions, particularly towards the Latinx community, specifically Mexican and Mexican-Americans, as he labeled them criminals, thieves, and rapists and threatened deportation and the construction of a wall separating the United States from Mexico (Saul, 2017; Shafer, 2017).