Losing Friends During Election Season

So, I’ve heard plenty of times and have even said that “we should not be losing friends because of the election.”

But is that true?

In an age where political affiliation means much more than just Democrat or Republican, evaluating friends based on who they vote for has become a valid test of their morals, values, thinking, and sensibilities.

How?  Let me explain it to you.

Let’s take the current president, Joe Biden.  Not everybody likes him, nor does everybody support what he stands for, correct?  His background suggests he has not been an ally of the people, specifically black people, during his career as a politician.  No matter what he says, we will remember that he was an architect of the 1994 Crime Bill, which added much harsher penalties for people possessing crack cocaine instead of powdered cocaine (which crack was prevalent in black communities).  The now infamous “Three Strikes Law” also caused those convicted of certain offenses to receive an automatic sentence of life in prison (28 states adopted some version of this law, with the California version being the strictest version.) During his presidential campaign, Biden certainly had some racially charged statements that rubbed people the wrong way, including saying that those who were black but did not vote for him “were not black.”  The very “noble” thing to say during a campaign where you’re trying to secure as many votes as possible. 

If we’re being honest, Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, does not have a much better track record.  She was a prosecutor in California, which happens to be a state as notorious as New York for putting men of color behind bars.  She rose to the level of the district attorney, then to the Attorney General of California before becoming the first Madam Vice President.  While her rhetoric during her campaign was not as negatively charged with race, her prior record did cause a significant eyebrow raise about her sincerity in helping black people.  With all that, you would think that Biden and Harris would not be the choice of the people to lead this country into the future.  But their rhetoric, however distasteful, was about unity and power, progression and equality.  Whether they live up to that is another conversation that the people will have later on, but the Biden/Harris campaign was seemingly about unity.

How badly did the other candidates have to be for the Biden/Harris ticket to be the correct one?

Well…

On the other hand, was Trump and his band of MAGA terrorists. From storming the Capitol building in protest of widespread voter fraud (which wasn’t true) to the repeated examples of Trump’s disrespect, bigotry, and racism, he proved that he was no ally of black people either. I could sit here and list ALL the examples, but this article would be more like a book, and most wouldn’t read it (it might already be too long.)

I will make two main points.

1st, Trump and Biden are both white men with agendas that have done heinous things to people of color, but only one has been willing to admit his shortcomings and at least attempt to rectify them. They ended up on different sides of the aisle, and standing on the Trump side meant that there was support for his policies, Presidency, and rhetoric.  Some will argue that they support his policies, not his words, but they are synonymous.  Supporting Trump was supporting Trump, and there is no separation because Trump himself did not separate his words from his actions and the actions of those who followed him.  Even now, Trump has been out of office for several months. Still, ethnic people feel the effects of Trump’s rhetoric throughout the country in the form of Republican attacks on voting rights and the right to protest, among other things, peacefully.  Trump has positioned himself with the upper-class white male, which happens to be the most privileged and racist group of people in America. Rich white men like Trump tend to be hell-bent on preserving and maintaining a level of superiority and oppression that will allow them to wield uneven power over Americans.  Anyone standing with that can not remain my friend.  Voting for someone who so quickly attacks the very Democracy my ancestors died for means that I can’t support that person, no matter their perceived individual policies.

2nd, separating the person from their policies is impossible because what politicians do is run on their personal and professional lives.  The idea that we can separate their platforms from their agendas is misplaced because the candidates themselves personalize their platforms.  Understanding this means that trying to support someone for their policies is advocating that person for their personal biases and platform.  If you support someone for the second amendment, but they also say racist remarks, then you support those racist remarks, whether or not you know.  And I refuse to continue a friendship with people who knowingly support someone in that manner.  I am not saying that we can not have a difference of opinion because people will disagree and do disagree all the time. Still, knowingly supporting someone who is declaratively prejudiced or even covertly sending signals of bigotry and racism is not acceptable.  If you do not want someone in your life that supports that, then you don’t have to.

Essentially, this past election was about giving support to an outward bigot and racist or a candidate who consciously recognizes his past and seems to be working to rectify those bad decisions.  Both live through their truth, but one fact is currently harming my people, and anyone who supports that, I can’t have them in my life.  Maybe you feel differently.  If you do, tell me why in the comments.