Before I begin I want to first start by saying that I love my family very, very much. I respect their opinions and their beliefs, and even when I do not hold the same ideologies, I love them the same. However, it is not easy to be a member of my family sometimes.
I was raised in a very small town in South Alabama that is famous for its blueberry crops and high school football. I attended church almost every Sunday and Wednesday, and I would listen to the sermons that told me who to vote for and what I should be supporting in the political arena. I listened to what my parents said was best for our economy, and how lazy "those" people on welfare were. I was just your average teenager living in a Southern town, surrounded by a family of strong conservatives.
Yet, something about the things they would say they supported and believed didn't sit right with me sometimes. I just couldn't bring myself to wrap my mind around their logic, but I didn't dare say anything for fear of being reprimanded or embarrassed by someone. I have some pretty blunt and gruff family members. So, for the most part, I kept my inner thoughts to myself to avoid what I knew would be an awful confrontation.
In the fall of 2012 I moved away from home and came to a campus that was rich in diversity. I was instantly surrounded by different accents, cultures and religions. It was such a liberating feeling to see what else the world had to offer outside of that small town in South Alabama. I finally felt like those inner thoughts and questions had answers, and the beliefs I held to be true had been completely validated.
It's hard to be the only person in my family who believes that women have the right to make a choice to keep a child in their womb. It is hard to be the only grandchild who really doesn't hate Obama. It is hard to hear people I love call the Supreme Court un-godly because they allowed same-sex marriage. It is extremely difficult to be a member of a family where differences divide us. It is hard to be a member of a family that believes there is no such thing as equality for all, only for those who fit the stereotypes and "looks" they think that an American possess. It is more than difficult to hear the way my family talks about those with different religious backgrounds, different sexualities, etc. It is very disheartening.
Quite possibly the worst part of being the only liberal in my family is that I am actually looked down upon. My opinions and ideals are considered "stupid" or "ignorant" because of my age. It is difficult to be the only one who actually researches issues to get a 360-degree view of it before listening to what Tomi the trash talker, or Fox News tells me to think about it.
I love my family, but it is especially hard to be a member of a family where I am the black sheep. I can only hope that as we progress towards a new and better America that we can all live harmoniously, and we will learn to appreciate and love each other for our differences rather than insisting on similarities.
