Student who refused to take photo with Paul Ryan defends her decision in blazing op-ed

The leader of the resistance to Paul Ryan is not even old enough to drive yet.

Jordan McCray­-Robinson was one of close to 100 8th grade students from South Orange Middle School who recently refused to participate in a photo-op with House Speaker Paul Ryan in May.

Now, McCray-Robinson is back resisting Ryan. The young student published an op-ed today for her local newspaper, The Village Green, where she defended her decision, speaking with more spit, vinegar, and passion than most adult pundits.

"I decided I wasn’t going to be used as a publicity stunt," the student starts. That's when you know you're gonna be in for a helluva 8th grade op-ed.

"On Sunday, May 28, in Mr. Ryan’s Instagram comment section, my peers and I were criticized about our reasoning behind not taking the picture. We were called 'losers,' 'stupid' and 'brats.' One man wrote, 'How did those 8th graders get so brainwashed to understand the politics of today and decide who is villain. I suggest this is the work of the teachers … useful idiots that they are.'"

McCray-Robinson then proceeds to defend herself against the adults who thought it was brave to humiliate middle school kids on social media:

"I am here to tell the nation that although we’re only in the 8th grade, we have our own thoughts and opinions ... I decided I didn’t want to take a picture with someone who doesn’t have my best interests in mind. Mr. Ryan and the administration want to cut health care for 23 million people. Am I one of those U.S citizens that will be affected?"

The young writer also interviewed some of his fellow classmates who said they don't support Ryan or the Trump administration, because "it’s important that kids of different backgrounds are able to speak out."

Fellow student Livvy Krakower, who refused to be in the photo and identifies as LGBTQ+, told McCray-Robinson, "I think it’s more than just a picture, If I was in the picture I would feel like a hypocrite due to the fact of his anti LGBTQ+ rules, as a member of the community I felt like I would be betraying myself.”

And another student, Tristan Reynolds, who is African American and appeared in the photo, said, “I was in the picture because I felt like it would be cool to be in the picture with the Speaker of the House not necessarily because of his views but because of the power of his job. I think a lot of people on the internet didn’t understand the situation and took the picture out of context and thought we were in the picture to support him — which many of us don’t.”

I'm not crying, you're crying! Stop crying at work!

The whole op-ed is worth a full read, which you can do here.

Never grow old, Jordan McCray-Robinson.