Dear citizens of the United States.
We are failing our country right now. No, I do not mean with who just became our President-elect. I mean with respecting each other after the political insanity known as this week. It is understandable that many people are outraged with Trump's recent victory in the race for The White House. It is also understandable that people want to protest his election. However, it is NOT okay for us to disrespect each other because of this. In doing that, we fail our home by allowing one election to divide all of us.
I remember how many people were acting up to the election. I noticed that many people were getting involved in both Trump and Clinton's campaigns. Many of these people were friends that were on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Instead of simply agreeing to disagree, people started with saying the most god-awful things to each other. For those people involved in the campaigns, they started seeing each other as enemies instead of people with their own opinions.
Why? Why allow politics to destroy friendships that we create?
It boils down to respect. However, it is not respect for each other; it was respect for the candidates. Now there are many people who supported Trump, same for Clinton. With both sides lacking respect for the opposing candidate, they thought that respect should not be given to the people who supported the candidate. This lack of respect led to all the violence and hate with the past months. This lack of respect is completely unacceptable. Though we may have our differences, we were taught to always respect each other even if we disagree.
We have many people who are now fearful of living here because of this election. For those of you who may find that absurd, just listen to them. If you find it ridiculous that a friend has these fears, just listen to them. It should not matter if you have a differing opinion about politics with your friends. To start respecting each other, we need to hear each other out. That is not saying that your opinion needs to be changed after hearing someone with a different one. It means that you want to acknowledge someone else's thoughts and let them know they will not be shunned because of a different opinion.
I am not here to have you change your political opinion. Your opinion should be respected and not hated on by others. However, what I am asking is that you listen to others with different opinions and simply be a friend to them. If you have friends out there that you argued with during the election, listen and show support for them. Respect only happens when we allow each other to be heard and not judged.
Lately, I have seen many people have signs and post online that "Love Trumps Hate." Only by starting with respect can we show love for everyone in this country.
