There is no denying that there are people who have become fearful after the election results came out, especially after others have already committed hateful actions across the country.

On Nov. 14, Senior Class President Dany Morales took the courage to share his message on the announcements following multiple incidents related to the election that occurred last week in our own school.

“No matter who you are and who you support, we need to come together at this time in history and unify to become the Charger Nation that we have always strived to be,” Morales said.

Throughout his speech, Morales stressed the importance of loving one another and not succumbing to hate. Morales even recited a message in Spanish to the Hispanic students at OHS to let them know that “they have a voice in our school and that I am here for them…and that we are all in this together as a family, no matter what race, or language we speak.”

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that is committed to seek justice and fight bigotry, there have been over 400 reported cases of hateful intimidation and harassment between the dates of Nov. 9 and Nov. 14 alone. Most of those have taken place in K-12 schools. Let us work together, not only at the high school level, but also across all of the schools in our district, in the city of Oxford and wherever else we may be in the future, to make sure we do not contribute to those numbers.

Now is not the time to give in to separation. Now, more than ever, as Morales stated, is the time for students to come together. The message Morales gave should encourage students to strive for inclusion.

As a staff, The Charger wants to express our support for Morales’ speech and encourage our own readers to keep their minds and their hearts open to friends, acquaintances and strangers alike.

While this election caused several sharp divisions among students and members of the community, we as a staff are dedicated to representing and including all of our student body in the stories that we cover, and we will continue to report on issues that may be difficult to discuss.

The role of The Charger is to keep students and staff members, as well as people outside of the school, informed on what is happening at our high school and in the Oxford community. We hope that we will not need to report on harmful divides between anyone as a result of the election in the future.