Last week the Twitter hashtags #ConservativeBecause and #LiberalBecause sparked something inside of me that I have been feeling for a while now. Growing up in Utah I found myself surrounded by mostly conservatives. This was hard because I, myself, am liberal.
Even from a young age I knew I didn't agree with my peers. In the fifth grade my teacher showed President Obama's inauguration and the boy next to me passed a note that said "Obama should die." How did this little boy even have a political opinion yet? I was upset but kept it to myself because I knew all of the kids around me didn't feel the same.
It wasn't just the students either. This year I had a teacher mention something negative about Bernie Sanders and a fellow student informed my teacher that I liked Sanders. It's true, I do #feelthebern and I am by no means ashamed of it. But instead of the teacher moving on with the lesson he sat down and gave me the third degree about how I must be an idiot if I supported Sanders. He told me it must be because I like free stuff and not putting in any work. When I began to counter by telling him, no, I support Sanders because I agree with certain views of his, he cut me off and told me that he should disperse my A among the class so that we are all equal. I was in awe. I no longer went to that class because I was uncomfortable. I wasn't mad to share that I was liberal. I was mad because the teacher acted inappropriately. But it was occasions like this that made me hate conservatives.
For the longest time I thought this meant I could never disagree with anyone around me. In government classes I would take opposing views just because I didn't want to agree with my conservative classmates. I felt that I was alone. Nobody shared the same views I did.
It hasn't been until recently that I realized not everyone who is conservative is that teacher or that classmate. It's not conservatives I hate, it's belligerence. It's OK to be conservative and it's OK to be liberal. What's not OK is being hostile towards someone because of their views. Of course, I won't always see eye-to-eye with my neighbor, but I can still be friendly anyway. Maybe my classmates will tell me who I support is wrong. But that's OK because no person shares the same values. I've realized it and others need to realize it too: The hatred needs to stop.
America is divided, it's true, but we can't let it tear us apart. Next time you disagree with someone take a moment, pause, evaluate, and decide if it's worth losing a friendship over. Decide if telling them that everything they believe is wrong is really going to change that belief.
While I wish "Come Together" by The Beatles would play as we all decide to agree on everything, I've come to terms with the fact that just isn't happening. My great grandpa always said, "The great thing about America is that you can buy your potatoes wherever you want." I could be misinterpreting but I think what he was trying to say is that we are lucky we have the opportunity to disagree. Our differences are what make us a great democracy. So maybe Americans can't agree when it comes to politics. What we can agree on is trying to be more kind, more educated, and more accepting of one another. If everyone can come to terms with this we will no longer be #ConservativeBecause or #LiberalBecause, we will be #UnitedBecause.
