Sidenote: The plot and characters in this story are not real, and are rather fiction.

"Hey Ed! How are you doing?" I heard as I clocked into my job. "I'm doing great Mark! My wife and kids left the house a little earlier today, so I was able to get some peace and quiet before coming in. How is the family?" I responded.

"Wow, that's great! We're doing good! My daughter is playing at the halftime show tomorrow; Julia and I love how committed she is to the marching band" he explained.

"Emily and I will make sure then to cheer her on tomorrow!" I replied.

"Thanks! Lastly, are you planning on watching the debate tomorrow?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, right after the football game! See you there!" I said, and walked briskly over to my position at the back of the factory.

After watching the live football game, where Mark's daughter's marching band performed wonderfully, and our high school team won, my family and I drove home. After quickly warming up dinner, Emily and I turned on the TV to watch the debate.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to our live coverage. We are your moderators, John and Judy, for tonight, where we will be interviewing the Democratic and Republican candidates over the different issues that our country is facing right now, and their solutions to fix them" John recited.

"Now, here are our contenders, Democrat Presidential Candidate _____, and Republican Presidential Candidate_____". Let's begin shall we" Judy stated.

"So, our country has been dealing with many problems from abroad, such as with Iran and the Middle East. If elected to be the President of the United States, how are you going to deal with those problems?" John asked.

Democrat: When elected, I (applause in background) plan to withdraw troops from the Middle East. However, unlike my fellow contender here, I plan to keep supplying humanitarian aid to the parts of the world that need it. It is simply the moral thing to do, to help those in need, such as the refugees

"And you sir?" Judy asked.

Republican: I plan to withdraw all US troops from the Middle East, as well as any significant international aid that the United States is providing to other countries around the world. While it is important for the US to be a leader of the world, we must set the example. And when we can't even solve our own problems-

Democrat: But how can we let countless human rights violations against refugees and more continue around the world? Isn't that immoral?

Republican: Well, my morals and beliefs are based on the United States, so I would say no. Also, when we have rising economic inequality that has hurt many people in rural America of all colors, we simply cannot divert much of our resources to international aid.

"Okay, so going off of that subject. What do you think about illegal immigration?" Judy asked.

Democrat: I think that we need to take care of all people that enter this country. We have to understand that illegal immigrants didn't choose to come to this great country, but did so for safety. The least we can do for them is to welcome them with open arms.

Republican: Respectfully, I must disagree with this. For, believe it or not, illegal immigration is a bad thing, and should not at all be encouraged. In fact, illegal immigration shows us that we need to improve our current legal immigration system. Also, in the legal sense, when an illegal immigrant crosses our southern border and enters our country, they break the law.

Democrat: No, they do not! Nor should they be seen as criminals!

Republicans: Crossing the border into the US is illegal, and when illegal immigrants do this, they are breaking our laws that we put in place. Are you saying that because they are immigrants, that they should be exempt from facing any charges for crossing illegally?

Democrat: Yes, because they are human, who were escaping literal death and tyranny!

Republican: So, let's say that I broke the law for something. With the ideology you're following, it would be okay for me to get punished for my act, while illegal immigrants would not?

Democrat: Yes, because they have different experiences from you!

Republican: Good luck winning the country with that.

Emily and I looked at each other during the immigration portion; we would be treated differently from illegal immigrants if we broke the law because of our different experiences? Made not sense to me. Anyway, the debate got further and further hostile after that, as the topics ranged from Healthcare to Student Loans. As the Presidential debate drew to a close, the last subject discussed was Race Relations.

"So, as President of the United States, how are you going to improve the current race relations in our country?" Judy asked.

Democrat: I am going to improve race relations by advocating for and starting the study of Reparations for Slavery. By learning from our painful past as a nation, we can then better understand the problems of African Americans and other minority groups in the US. Furthermore, it will also help White Americans better understand their privilege; I even think the Republican candidate can benefit from that as well.

Republican: Because I'm White?

Democrat: Yes, by being a Cis-White Straight man, you are the definition of White Privilege; and you happen to be a part of the Republican party.

Republican: So, you're telling me that because of my race, I didn't struggle. You mean to tell me that when I had to work at 14 years old in order to support my mother and sisters and bring an income into the house while at school, I didn't struggle. You mean to tell me that I didn't struggle when working two jobs in college in order to pay off all of my student loan debt.

Democrat: I..

Republican: You mean to tell me that simply because of the color of my skin, that everything was a breeze. Sure, I understand that for African Americans and other minorities that it was hard for them socially. But did you know that in many parts of rural America, poor minorities and Whites have more in common as an economic class than a racial one? Save me your politically correct jargon, because using Identity Politics like that is not only divisive, but will also further divide this great country of ours.

My fellow Americans, I promise you that if elected to be your next President, I will do my best to not only breakdown these terms and more that divide us, and rather have us bond over our core beliefs as a country, in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Freedom, and more. My fellow Americans, we unlike many in the world, are a free people, and unlike my opponent here, I will use this bond that we have to create a large and shared National Identity for us all to unite, and fight for.

Emily and I literally gave a standing ovation to our screen on this. As I looked out the window, I saw that others watching their television screens were clapping too. Even though I lived in rural Tennessee, I could still see the lights of my neighbor's from far.

I felt excited to go to work the next day.

For Further Reading:

Fukuyama "Against Identity Politics"

Givas "2020 Democrat bemoans identity politics, says it's being used to 'tear people apart'"

US Rep Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) "We don't need any more brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice"