There are very few things that are ingrained in the American spirit. Apple pie, liberty, eagles, guns and, most significantly as of late, the political division are just some of the genuinely American ideals that you can’t escape. No matter where you go in this massive and diverse nation, you will see communities and families split along political lines — friends who refuse to associate themselves with one another because of who they voted for president.
According to the Pew Research Center, political polarization has been on a rapid increase since 1994. This is also directly correlated with political animosity rates. There’s a clear direct correlation with people’s increasingly extreme political views and their hatred with the opposite party. Normally this would lead to a diverse, much-needed political discussion; however, it’s leading to increased political violence.
A few weeks ago, The Signal published an article about Peter Minetos, the chair of the Georgia State College Republicans, and the organization also featured it as the cover for that week’s issue.
For the members of The Signal, they were doing nothing more than their journalistic duty, covering an under-covered student who is a member of student government, travels the state regularly representing a significant party and has met notable players such as Vice President Mike Pence and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
However, for other people, and justifiably so, the cover represented hatred and division. During the controversy, I argued both sides of the argument. While I believe the MAGA hat means nothing more than racism and hatred, I also thought that the institution had a right to feature a side of the political spectrum just as they did the other.
On Nov. 15, 2016, The Signal released a cover that displayed in bold letters, “NOT MY PRESIDENT,” a chant heard continuously during the protests that ensued after the “Cheeto” won the presidency.
This political conflict is ultimately going to be the demise of this nation, much like it almost did in the 1860s. The nation was so divided, there was so much hate ingrained in American society that the Civil War was fought. This is the path this country is rapidly barreling down.
This country is so divided that elections are no longer about solutions to the problems plaguing the nation. Politicians are running elections based on pure hatred for the opposing side. If you happened to turn on CNN at any given time, you’d likely hear a discussion not about how there are policy disagreements but about how one political party is attempting to one-up the other.
Political discussion is one of the most important rights that people can have in this nation. In many countries, namely the People’s Republic of China, people have often been pushed aside or killed for having a political idea that’s not aligned with the government’s.
However, in the United States political discussion has gotten to the point that democracy is starting to fall apart in this nation. The key to a democratic government is citizen participation. Whether it’s through political discussion and debate or through voting, every citizen must be able to participate without having to feel personally attacked.
But Americans are telling their fellow citizens that, because their opinions don’t pair up, they shouldn’t be able to have this discussion. We have to do better. We don’t have to agree but we have to at least listen.
