Droves of San Luis Obispo residents arrived en masse at the Mosque of Nasreen on Friday, December 11 in a display of solidarity with the Muslim community. Speakers from the Islamic society of San Luis Obispo County, along with representatives from the Jewish and Christian communities in SLO, spoke to a crowd of hundreds; denouncing Islamophobic rhetoric eructing from Neoconservative pundits in wake of the tragic San Bernardino attacks.

“I thought it was wonderful, I loved seeing so many people there. It was really nice,” said American Government teacher Jim Johnson.

Over two hundred SLO residents attended the rally in a stand against hatred and bigotry. As wonderful as a display of solidarity like this is, however, the fact that citizens needed to rally against hate-speech being spouted from politicians (mainly republicans) shows how little we have truly progressed as a society.

“Everybody has to understand how our government operates and what our government stands for, I think it is important for us to remind ourselves of that,” said Johnson. We as American citizens must remember the founding principles on which our country was built. We are a nation of immigrants, and would do well to remember that axiom.