In recent months, political and social tensions have heightened in Palo Alto, following PAUSD school board controversy, protests against popular electric vehicle manufacturing company Tesla and fractures within parent networks.
With around 73% voter turnout in the 2024 general presidential election, according to Santa Clara County voting data, the region has been highly engaged in politics at the local, state and national level. However, this participation was 12% lower than the 2020 general election voter turnout. The data also shows that the county is relatively liberal, with 68% of voters voting for the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and 28% voting for the Republican candidate Donald Trump, compared to the entire nation, with 48% of Americans voting for the Democratic candidate and 50% Republican. General left-leaning voting tendencies in the region align with recent shifts in reactions to political events on local and national levels.
During a special PAUSD board meeting on Jan. 23, Board Member Rowena Chiu stated that she had “not felt very safe” on the dais regarding feedback she had recieved from the community. According to the video recording of the meeting, around 50 minutes later, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Danaé Reynolds, a Black woman, made a comment about the correct rhetoric for Chiu to use, stating that the word “unsafe” was reserved for cases such as worrying about whether her husband would come home. On Jan. 27, Chiu reposted an X account named “Asians Against Wokeness” that made a post arguing that Reynolds silenced Chiu on the premise of being Asian, with many in the comments section calling Reynolds a racist. Chiu took down her repost a few days later, but controversy quickly brewed: The Palo Alto Educators Association revoked their endorsement of Chiu, with members of the Palo Alto Management Association calling for her to resign in a signed document. On Feb. 11, School Board Vice President Shana Segal and Board Member Shounak Dharap introduced a resolution to reassign Chiu, which caught the attention of many meeting attendees. At the March 11 board meeting, PAEA president Teri Baldwin reported that Chiu was unwilling to meet with the executive board to discuss her actions due to PAEA’s rejection of Chiu’s preconditions, including having an attorney present and a video recording of their meeting.
Overall, these events have been extremely divisive: Some saw Chiu’s actions in reposting the account as justified, arguing that Reynolds was in the wrong and acted to silence Asian voices, while others believed that Chiu’s actions were unjustified, seeing the repost as an attempt to have Palo Alto flip against Reynolds. Others did not know what to think. The situation itself exemplifies that the city is more divided on social issues than once thought. According to a PAUSD parent, who requested anonymity to prevent social backlash, a sizable portion of the Asian community was outraged at the resolution. However, Chiu’s actions also were not justified.
“She has a right to free speech, so she can say things,” they said. “But now that Chiu is in a leadership position, it wasn’t a wise thing to do. You have to work with the teachers and staff, and you have to get them to trust you.”
Division on local politics also led to the eventual splitting of parent group chats on WeChat, a popular messaging app used by primarily Asian parents. According to a different PAUSD parent who requested anonymity to prevent social backlash, some parents’ voices were silenced in a group chat due to having dissenting opinions.
“The leaders of the chat kicked out people who didn’t share views supporting the school board’s policies,” they
said. “The new parents, who were somewhat right-wing, made their own group chat, so there’s two groups now.”
Furthermore, some students faced backlash for speaking out in support of Chiu. An anonymous Paly sophomore specifically noted an occurrence where he was singled out by others who did not share his views after he spoke at the board meeting against Segal and Dharap’s motion. The student also requested anonymity to avoid social repercussions.
“Three days after I spoke at the board meeting, people tracked me down and came up to me during my prep,” the student said. “They gave this really rude stare, but I did speak out against them in a sort of way.”
The community has also grown increasingly divided over the school board apart from the Chiu controversy. PAUSD’s student body is predominantly Asian and white and is reflected in the diversity of the school board members as well. The anonymous student noted that race has been a large factor in conversations over school board representation, perhaps too large.
“The main issue is that, when candidates are Asian, they usually say they represent the entire group of Asians,” the student said. “Then some people say that one person is representative of all the Asians, but then there’s other people who don’t think so. It’s just this attachment of race and representation within a group, and that presumption of it.”
Separately, a group of parents also attempted to recall school board member Shounak Dharap in February, with signees stating that Dharap purposely overlooked problems at Hoover Elementary and had made politically charged decisions that ignored implications on the education and well-being of students. The motion was denied after it failed to gain the 30 signatures needed to start recall processes, according to Palo Alto Online and the Palo Alto Daily Post.
A changing political climate nationally has also led to an increase in public demonstrations in Palo Alto. Over the past three months, Tesla CEO and President Donald Trump’s senior advisor Elon Musk has been in the spotlight of national politics for leading the Department of Government Efficiency and slashing budgets for many federal agencies. This controversy has caused severe backlash against Tesla around the world and led to acts ofvandalism and protests. Palo Alto has been no stranger to such demonstrations. On Feb. 28, hundreds of protesters gathered outside of Tesla Engineering Headquarters, urging boycotts on Tesla and Amazon, according to Palo Alto Online.
Smaller-scale protests have also been taking place at the Tesla dealership on El Camino every weekend. Community members held anti-Trump and anti-Musk signs. These protests typically start in the morning and go on for multiple hours throughout the day. According to junior Rrishi Anand, who lives in an apartment complex across the street from the dealership, the protests can be quite disruptive.
“They have megaphones, so I can constantly hear them yelling,” Anand said. “They also walk into my apartment complex holding poster boards.”
The crowd also acts out physically, according to Anand, and can get aggressive or violent.
“I saw a Tesla trying to pass through the intersection once, and somebody threw an object at it,” Anand said. “Several times, the police have been called, but after they leave, the protest usually escalates again.”
While similar anti-Musk protests have been occurring internationally, according to social studies teacher David Bisbee, Palo Alto has the unique position of being a central hub of Tesla. As a result, the demonstrations are more likely to have an impact.
“Musk has incredible influence and access right now, so the Tesla locations have been the places to get his attention,” Bisbee said. “He has a definitive connection to Palo Alto.”
These demonstrations show a sense of intensified activism seeping into Palo Alto. Because the recent policy changes made by Trump are seen as extremely controversial, along with the fact that Palo Alto is extremely liberal — with 52% of voters being registered as Democrats and just 16% as Republicans in Silicon Valley, according to Palo Alto Online — the city is in a tense political mood. The Tesla demonstrations are one way for the Palo Alto community to democratically express their concerns and are also encouraged by similar international activities.
In response to Trump’s actions, the Palo Alto City Council reaffirmed its detachment from “prominent Silicon Valley technology executives” and proposed a legal process that would allow Palo Alto’s Policy and Services Committee to pursue legal action against federal legislation on March 17 in a 7-0 vote, according to Palo Alto Online. Anti-Trump actions such as these reaffirm the city’s values in the face of changes in the national political atmosphere.
According to Bisbee, tensions have been rising for decades on the national level, and changes in political party dominance typically do cause expulsions in tension.
“It hasn’t been an overnight change,” Bisbee said. “Anytime there’s a new political party in office, especially in today’s context, you’re going to see the tension ebb and flow.”
However, a clear-cut difference today is a change in the mediums of information. Social media’s rise has led to a change in the way that people digest information while also making it easier for people to engage with politics. According to Bisbee, today’s world is vastly different and allows people’s voices to be heard.
“Social media is an easier outlet for people to get engaged, and there’s a myriad of different things that young people care about, like climate change, LGBTQ+ rights, gun legislation, reproductive rights, education, racial justice, DEI issues and homelessness,” Bisbee said. “Social media is a great vehicle, too. If you’re not actively politically engaged with an organization, it’s a place where you can let your opinions be known.”
