By Claire Svetkey, Editor-in-Chief :
I believe that everyone has an obligation to be a decent person. That means respecting everyone’s different opinions. However, I also believe that the phrase “different opinions” is too often conflated with “different morals,” especially in today’s political climate. Having a different political opinion from your friend might mean debating the advisability of the USMCA, or high tariffs on steel, or a candidate's proposed tax plans. Having a different political opinion does not mean opposing Black Lives Matter or, frankly, agreeing with the Republican Party’s official platform, which openly denounces same-sex marriage. That is no longer a different political opinion. That is a different moral standpoint – which is to say, that is a view that I believe to be morally reprehensible.
I am tired of popular media forcing such an exaggerated narrative of “equality” that bigotry is given a seat at the table and regarded as a valid choice. I am tired of being told to respect others’ opinions when those “opinions” are thinly veiled hatred. I am terrified for the upcoming presidential election, because I want my future to include a livable climate, and an America in which bigotry is addressed and remedied, rather than ignored or even lauded.
I’ve been somewhat discreet with naming names up to this point, but I want to say this plainly: Donald Trump is a bigot. No, not everyone who supports Donald Trump is a bigot. But everyone who supports Donald Trump sees his racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, and utter disregard for American lives, and decides that those traits are not deal-breakers. Everyone who supports him, at best, tolerates those traits, and, at worst, praises them; and, honestly, even tolerating bigotry – electing a bigot to run our country – is akin to bigotry itself. Voting for him, or throwing away a vote that could be used against him, will harm countless Black people, countless LGBTQ+ people, countless women, countless immigrants.
Choosing not to vote because you’re “not a political person” proves that you view the world through an incredibly privileged lens.
The only people who can safely disregard politics are those whose fundamental human rights are not being contested every four years, every time a Supreme Court Justice is replaced, every hour of every day while Republicans control the Senate. I don’t have the privilege of abstaining from political discourse. Even when all I want to do is ignore it, I can’t. Neither can countless others.
I am tired of the people who say that “we can be friends, even across political lines,” and I am especially tired of those who imply that I am a bad person for disagreeing with that sentiment. I am not a bigot for denouncing bigotry. We can be friends if we disagree on television shows, or music genres, or clothing styles, or political opinions that are actually just political opinions. We cannot be friends if you think that Black lives don’t matter. We cannot be friends if you support a man who brags about rape, or a political party that wants to deny LGBTQ+ people the right to live and love freely. I will not condone your bigotry.
This is my second year as Editor of Highpoint; last year, my co-Editors and I ran a BHS Diversity Day workshop on political bias in journalism. As a part of creating our presentation, I researched the history of journalism in the United States, and what I learned is that it has always been politically biased. In fact, for a long time it was expected to be; it was only in the mid-twentieth century that the media was told to paint a fair picture of both sides. Consequently, it’s only now, after passing through a phase of “unbiased” journalism, that media outlets spin their biased tales as though they’re unbiased. This is not to say that the blatant, extreme bias of Gold Rush era newspapers is the ideal – but at least the journalists then were more upfront about their intentions.
I believe that hate should not be treated as a valid opinion, opposite to empathy but no less legitimate. I believe that respect is earned, and if you don’t respect someone’s fundamental rights based on their skin color, or gender identity, or sexuality, I do not owe you any respect because you are immoral. I believe that everyone has an obligation to be a decent person. It’s as simple as that.