“Trump 2020” Beyond Politics
“Trump 2020,”
It seems that every family has someone screaming their support of Trump–without care of how others around may feel. TikTok is flooded with videos of teens telling stories of attempts at educating bigoted parents, which then get picked up by Fox News as scare tactics. These are the same parents and friends who say “It’s just politics,” but we are far beyond just politics. Let me explain.
Black Lives Matter is not a slogan for most–for many of us non-black protestors, it’s our friends. We can replace “black” with names of people we know: Edward, Sienna, Anthony, Sasha, all a few names I could use to replace the word “Black” in “Black Lives Matter.” For many people, black lives are lives whom we know and love. For me, I have a list of black lives I march and fight for–and most people feel this way as well. Black Lives Matter is our cousins, significant others, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, friends that make family–it’s not a political concept for us who make up the community. BLM is a life or death scenario. Disagreeing is actively saying that black lives don’t matter, point blank.
Abortion is also life or death, not about religion or politics. Abortion access is critical to the women and girls you know–those of us with mental illness, physical illness, immune challenges, or who simply don’t feel ready for a child need access to abortion. Having an abortion isn’t an abstract concept for those of us who can get pregnant, and every person with a uterus knows whether an abortion is right for them–even without ever experiencing pregnancy. Access to abortions is life or death.
Immigrant rights aren’t an abstract concept, and supporting the locking of children in cages isn’t political. These are human beings, in cages, on American soil–this is life or death. This is traumatizing children for their entire lives, or simply not. This, again, isn’t political. This is about humanity. This is about being a nazi during WWII, or not.
Migrants in a makeshift encampment outside the U.S. Border Patrol McAllen Station in McAllen, Texas, on May 15, 2019.Loren Elliott / Reuters file
Wearing a mask is about saving the lives of others. For example, I’m a fit 23 year old woman with no health concerns–I wear my mask whenever I leave my apartment. I have a 60+ year old next door neighbor, I live in a community with a lot of young children, and I simply don’t want to risk hurting others. Protesting wearing a mask does nothing but show that you don’t care about the kids and elderly around you–that you are incapable of thinking about anyone but yourself and your own group.
I often hear people say “Well it’s okay to have different opinions, politicians don’t impact us!” Normally this is said by straight, CIS, mainly white men–and they don’t get impacted by any of the above matters. So to you, a straight white CIS man, these concepts are political and you might be confused why people are setting such strict boundaries with you. These are matters that impact daily life, these are matters that require you to think about what is best for others–even if you don’t agree.
If you’re wondering why politics are tearing people away from you, it’s because you have shown them that they don’t matter more than your political party. They have decided that their safest bet is to put up firm boundaries, and you can either decide to learn or respect the distance.
