The following is first my personal comments on a quote from Karlie Kloss, without a doubt one of the strongest, most influential women whom I look up to daily for guidance and grace.
Karlie made an off-handed comment, a comment that cannot be twisted or used to inflict harm or pain or confusing. It was not wrong. To most people it was nothing, but for me; it gave me something to think about and to analyze—so thank you, Karlie, genuinely from the bottom of my heart!
She merely labeled an event in D.C., the White House Correspondents Dinner, to be exact, as "glamorous" in a quick Snapchat, and I could not help to think, "Do we understand what government was created for, what Washington, D.C. was founded on? Was it a glamorous night? How have celebrities come?
Karlie's statement that initially made me think, "Hm, celebrities truly have such an influence on the politically correct speech that runs how many conversations are directed. What is politically correct or important about glamour? How is it that Hollywood and celebrities have such an effect on what is considered appropriate in the political world to the point where at the White House Correspondents Dinner President Obama went so far as to call out Kendall Jenner for Twitter attention. Did anyone else notice that?"
I do, however; realize that celebrities and those individuals in the spotlight that so many of us look up to can have a lot of influence and it can be an extremely positive thing. For example, Karlie Kloss's #KodeWithKlossy. She empowers young women, giving them the resources and financial ability to learn a very beneficial and increasingly popular trade, something many young women would not have the opportunity to do without her support and encouragement.
So I am not hating by any means. My point is, politicians are not celebrities and vice versa. There should be a stronger line between the two. In today's society, I feel it is often social media and celebrities that guide was is considered often referred to as being 'politically correct'.
Politics are not glamorous, nor is our government. It is not intended to be, as far as I am aware. As an advocate of the positive strength social media can posses, I am a participant of many social media outlets. But when the "White House Correspondents" dinner Snapchat and Instagram hashtags or tweets are filled mostly with celebrities (whom I love and admire) but who on very rare occasions show political interests or participation my faith in this country's ability to separate social responsibility and consciousness between the responsibility of a fiscally conscious government is a little more than a tad shaky.
Before the Karlie comment, my struggles with political correctness were slowing creeping in, I was becoming more comfortable to speak about the often forbidden topic of 'politics'.
For example, the following status is simply a thought with no political innuendo. Advocating, in the midst of all of this political welfare and confusion, that we as individuals do not become the hate we spread in this nasty politically correct, politically charged society: We are all individuals.
And this what I felt many people on my social media timeline needed to read one day.
"It makes me so sad to see friends, neighbors, and other individuals "unfriending", commenting that people are idiots, people are stupid, sharing disrespectful comments, and numerous other slanderous actions we see taken on social media all over one single person—our next potential president, whoever that may be.
A person who is yes, still a person, just like you and just like me. Imperfect. We have all made mistakes, spoken out of context, and even hurt others that mean so much to us. We are all at some fault in our own lives.
With that being said, may we all take a moment to remember that each candidate is a person, with a family, and a life, and it, no matter their political preferences, takes a lot of courage to open your life up to be scrutinized and criticized by billions of people. We are all, as I was taught, "one nation under God," not "one nation under another imperfectly perfect human being," and that is something I feel should be celebrated before any candidates (or any individual's) life should be attacked and belittle.
This Facebook status was met with the following comments. I will leave my point at this: I am tired of being politically correct in the sense that it is used as a negative tool to criticize and make our thoughts, words, and ideas conflictual or seemingly wrong. Remember: We are people not politics.
“I am in absolute agreement that we are all one nation under God (or one higher power whichever your individual belief may be). It is unfortunate that yes there are very unchristian responses to many candidates and the people that support them. It is also equally unfortunate that there are candidates that have extremely unchristian like campaigning methods and lives. You are correct, we are all imperfect and mortal with the ability to make mistakes. However, for an individual that proclaims they are qualified to lead our.”
“If we are speaking about Donald Trump, he has made uneducated and downright racist comments towards many of the minorities and then refused to comment on the KKK and David Duke, his quote "I don't know anything about him." Which is absolutely ridiculous because in past interviews before his presidential run, Trump has made open remarks towards Duke and the KKK.
Taylor, there was a young black woman who was at a Trump rally in Louisville who had men pushing her around and spitting and cussing at her, and forced out against her free will. Now, it has come out that those men who were pushing her around were white supremacists. I'm not personally speaking for anybody else, but if that's your vision of "one nation under God" then I don't really know what to say. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I'm telling you that in life we can all try to be friends, but when it comes to choosing a presidential candidate, we can't sugar coat this. This is the person who is going to lead our nation and be the face of the United States to the entire world. And if you want that face to be a racist, billionaire who lacks any sort of empathy for people that are lower than him, then frankly, I'd unfriend you, too."
