I have been pulled over by a police officer because "my type (A/A) didn't belong in that neighborhood (I clarified that's what he meant)
I have been the only person of color in a bar and told to leave because "no one there wanted my kind in there"
I have had someone call me the N-word to my face 5 times after telling him it offends
I have seen vandalism towards friends due to their sexual orientation
I have stood between a swimmer in the kiddie end of the gene pool and a female friend whom he was harassing (a few times)
I have had a girlfriend have a finger pistol pointed and "fired" at her while mouthing "N- lover to her.
I have heard two women of my same race say "see they took another one ours" as I walked out of the theater with my friend of a different race
I have seen racism, sexism, pure hatred, pure anger, a friend whose parents had pictures of Hitler in a high noticeable position
I have dealt with many examples of the ugliness that the human race has to offer in my 40 plus years.
Yet all of these pale to what I have seen on all sides of this political campaign season. The spewing of hated, the vitriolic words, memes, photos, insults and the purest forms of anger and disrespect that I have ever seen. In one day, the genesis and central point of all of this will commence and complete tomorrow but I fear deep down in places that we don't talk about at parties, that the damage and internal injuries done are not going to heal or dissipate once the winners are announced and the last ballots have been counted. This election season has been the most polarizing event that my generation has ever seen. External wounds will heal within a short period, internal wounds leave scars so deep that they may never completely heal.
People, I ask you this as election day has come here in the Central Time Zone, remember that before all of this happened, the people on your friends list, the people you work with, socialize with, are involved in relationship with and who hold a special place in someway inside are in your life for some reason. Yes, disagreements are bound to exist always but this has gone far beyond that. I've seen things said online that people would not dream of saying in person. I've seen people say things in person that leave me slack-jawed and you know what. It hurts my heart, it hurts my head and it hurts my faith that these bonds we built can be eroded and even destroyed because of this set of differences. Take a pause, take a break, take a deep breath and then go back to, shake hands, give hugs and remember that one year of all of this is not worth the longer time you spent building the social structure and bond that was created and built for whatever reason.
Maybe the damage is indeed irreparable, maybe this has shown you aside of this person or people that has exposed a side that you did not know existed and for that reason, you choose not to continue. I am not innocent of those and I acknowledge and it is something I will be working on as well. But please, do not let ones choice or decision in their selection of representation solely tear asunder what time and commonality have built.
We are a nation built on disagreement and social discourse. Built on taxation without representation and the oppressive rule of a King, we united together and became this nation we love. Look at the word there. United. United..we stand. Do not lose this, do not forget this and please, let's try to find this again. Time isn't as important as the action of finding what we've lost.
This is the world we live in and these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying, to make it a place worth living in
My final two cents plus plus on this and final political statement on this all. Now we sit and wait and watch.
1 – Land of Confusion (1986), written by Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Phil Collins, performed by Genesis
