With this being my last chance to persuade you to vote one way or another in next Tuesday’s presidential election, you might assume that I would take this opportunity to do just that. Well, dear reader, in this case, you would be wrong to make such an assumption.
Making assumptions about people is a generally bad idea. Assumptions are often based on stereotypes whose close cousins include bigotry, racism, misogyny, religious intolerance, and homophobia. These, in turn, can lead to even worse ends. Indeed, it is a mistake to make assumptions about others, especially about people you don’t know.
All too often, people assume the worst about others without ever taking the time to get to know them. Some of my more liberal friends think that all of my Trump-supporting friends must be racists, while I have been accused by some of my conservative acquaintances of being a socialist who wants to take away everyone’s guns and start a race war. These assumptions are both incorrect and ignorant, and they only serve to divide us further.
To quote President Trump, there are “very fine people on both sides.” (Of course, I mean that in reference to Democrats and Republicans, not neo-Nazis and counter-protesters.) My point is this: no matter the outcome of the election, we must treat each other with civility, kindness, and grace in order to move forward together as Americans.
In short, the only way we can begin to heal as a nation is to treat each other with respect—no matter who is in the White House.
While scrolling through Facebook marketplace the other day, I came across an advertisement for a t-shirt with the following phrase emblazoned upon it: “All Lives Splatter—Who cares about your stupid protest?” An image accompanying the quote depicted a car plowing through a crowd of protestors, sending some flying into the air. Making a joke of out the murder of 32-year-old Heather Heyer who, along with 19 others, was deliberately mowed down by a car driven by a white supremacist at the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, or celebrating peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors being maliciously struck by vehicles is nearly as sick and depraved as the acts themselves.
In this country, we recognize that all of us—Republicans and Democrats, Capitalists and Socialists, Blacks and Whites, Muslims and Christians, Women and Men—are created equal and born with certain inalienable rights including Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. All of us have these rights, not just the people we agree with. To mock, maim, or murder those who believe differently than us is decidedly un-American, and it must stop in order for us to truly Make America Great Again.
On November 4th, about half of the people you meet will be upset about the outcome of the election. It is perfectly fine to be happy if your candidate wins, but it is not okay to make those who supported the losing cause feel even worse. Please show those folks some grace. Be respectful with your comments. Be empathetic to their pain. Treat them with loving kindness.
It is perfectly American to disagree with one another, but American Greatness demands that even when we disagree, we must still respect one another.
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