After the outcome of the 2016 election, I remember feeling extremely afraid for the future and my safety as a person going through the world with a black identity. The person running the most powerful nation on Earth seemingly had no desire to fix, or even address the many issues that individuals in my community, disenfranchised or otherwise, faced every day.

I feared what it meant for my family, for my younger relatives to grow up living in a nation that elected a person who spewed such hateful and abhorrent rhetoric about people from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

It was hard for me to face, that whether I liked it or not, I would have to have some difficult conversations with the people around me about what a Trump presidency meant for us.

I try my best to stay away from directly addressing people on social media who hold opposing viewpoints. Even though I don’t agree politically with many of the people on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I tend to get a bit too aggressive when I respond to people on opposing sides of the political spectrum. It’s important for me if I am to create such a discussion, to have a calm and concise dialogue with the other individual. It’s much more productive for the both of us to have a more relaxed disagreement than to shout each other’s heads off.

Recently, a question related to this issue of political disagreement was brought to my attention: Would I stay friends with someone if they confessed to me that they held political stances that were a stark contrast (meaning we didn't agree on basic social and economic issues) from those of my own? After thinking about it for a while, I realized that even though I definitely have acquaintances with opposing political viewpoints, most of my close friends are liberal or left-leaning at the very least.

To be completely honest, with the current state of our country, I don't really have time for people who don't agree with my political stances.

This might come off as really biased or as another liberal snowflake not wanting to pay attention to any opposition, but that isn't what my point is at all.

I have absolutely no issue being friends with someone who identifies with the right or who feels that their political viewpoints align more with the Republican party. My point is not that all Republicans are evil or that everyone who identifies with the right is somehow immoral. My stance on the matter is that if your political views involve oppression or any infringement on the way of life of any group of people, I don't see a point in continuing a relationship with you.

I value the ideas of compassion, concern, and understanding when becoming friends with a person. Even though some may argue that you can separate your political viewpoints from your personal interactions, I don't believe this to be true. I think your political viewpoints speak a lot about the kind of person you are even in relation to interpersonal communication.

Because of this, I often find myself avoiding building a relationship with people on different sides of the political spectrum.

As I stated, I have absolutely no issue with being friends with someone who holds opposing viewpoints or different political stances than those of my own. However, I don't think it's productive for me to engage with individuals who hold political perspectives that include systemic oppression or any other sort of discrimination towards a group of people.

As a person who respects the value of all people of not only this country but across the globe, I just don't see it necessary to interact with people who don't share the same sentiments.