Two years ago, it was 2016, and we were in the throes of a critical election season. It was a violently polarized time in America, as two very controversial candidates battled for the presidency. When November came around, I watched in horror with my fellow university students as county by county, state by state, the nation turned a solid red. I then penned a piece called “Dear America,” in which I lamented the choices of my fellow Americans. Appalled, I wondered, “Why would anyone vote for Trump?”
In the time since that election and the subsequent inauguration, daily life has remained quite unchanged, despite the initial uproar over the Trump election. For the most part, the nation has not erupted into chaos, or bloodshed, or revolution. And I like to think I’ve repented a bit. I wouldn’t call myself a Trump supporter, by any means. I still disagree strongly with many of the policies he champions and the ideologies he represents. But I’ve come to see the humanity in those who used to be “the enemy”, those who I had decried as racist and unchristian, the absolute worst people ever (read this with the voice of a melodramatic, whiny teenager).
(I was discussing this article with a friend who pointed out that the Trump presidency has had some very devastating consequences for certain people, particularly those who have to live under the dark cloud of anxiety over the threat of deportation from Trump’s harsh immigration policies and in the climate of anti-immigrant sentiment that the Trump administration has endorsed. Being unaffected by the Trump presidency is a level of privilege that many do not have. – KT Nov 12, 2018)
In the time since, I’ve been to Oregon and have started listening to podcasts, two unrelated developments which have helped to peel off the layers of blinding bias and given me a glimpse of life outside the little liberal bubble in which I live.
a cup of kimitea 