I have seen a lot of posts circulating around social media talking about people's desires to separate the personal and the political.
I'm of the belief that this way of viewing the world is no longer feasible. What used to be political is now personal for me. When I see people that I have known and loved for years supporting a man who has proven time and time again to be a xenophobic, misogynist, and racist individual, my heart breaks. I cannot remain silent.
I understand why people want to separate the two. Many of the realities of our world are heartbreaking; they are brutal, they are violent, and they are hard to talk about. I understand why people want to use Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr to look at funny memes and watch videos of cats to escape the world for a little while. Everyone needs a place to decompress. This election is overwhelming. The world is always changing. Every day we wake up, and there is another crisis.
But the harsh truth is that while we sit here and share cute articles on Facebook, hundreds and hundreds of people are killed or injured in Syria. While white people can turn a blind eye to institutional injustice and still succeed in society, minorities wake up every morning in a country that works against them in every way possible and profits from their systematic oppression. While Christians in America are hardly ever subject to harsh religious scrutiny within our nation's borders, American Muslims live in a constant fear that they will be the next victim of Islamophobic violence. While we pettily bicker on social media, Native Americans are fighting to protect the land they have had to fight for after we stole it from them centuries ago.
I don't think any of us can fully comprehend how vital and crucial this election is. We are at a major crossroads. This election is where the American people will decide if we are moving forward or if we are moving backward. We will decide whether we continue to make progress or whether we will tear down all of that progress. This is where we decide whether to remain true to the values our country was founded on or whether we succumb to greed and injustice.
To be clear, I don't unfriend people simply because of politics. Any of you that really know me know that I'm not that shallow, and that I enjoy talking with people whose beliefs are drastically different from mine. It helps me view the world in a way that I didn't before. I respect differences in opinion. I do not respect misogynist, racists, and xenophobes.
To live in a world where personal and political are separated is to be satisfied with your privilege because chances are you're protected from whatever harsh realities exist in the world.
The political has become personal. I cannot, in good conscience, remain silent about this election. To be neutral in times like these is to be complacent with the actions of evil.
If my political posts annoy you, please feel free to unfriend me. That's the beauty of social media. If you really want your feed to just be cute animals and funny videos, you have the power to make it that.
But I will not apologize for refusing to remain silent about the injustices that run rampant in our society.
I will not apologize for lifting up the voices of those who have been systematically oppressed since our country was founded.
I will not apologize for constantly denouncing a man who has no morals: who disgusts me and terrifies me more than I can put into words.
Above all, I will not apologize for speaking my mind.
Rage — whether in reaction to social injustice, or to our leaders’ insanity, or to those who threaten or harm us — is a powerful energy that, with diligent practice, can be transformed into fierce compassion.(x)
