Embracing Incompatibility

People of all demographics experience their own specific understanding of what it means to be an American. However, the growing political polarization of our country discourages people from emerging themselves in a new perspective and promotes echo chambering. The lack of diversification in the minds of future voters will only worsen the gaping political divide. You can only ever see the world through your own eyes however you can share experiences to gain a further understanding of how your life compares to the world around you but only if you listen and are willing to be open minded to other opinions. These 4 experiences have forever changed my identity as an American.

Experience 1

The summer after 8th grade I took a trip with my church. On this trip to Cincinnati I was paired up with an 8 year old boy, Marcus at a Daycare. Marcus was the exact opposite of myself. He was a shy African American boy living in downtown Cincinnati living with only his dad in a single bedroom apartment and I was an outgoing white girl in a suburban town living with both parents and a brother in a nice residential neighborhood. All week I tried to engage this kid with all of the other children at the daycare like I did when I was in daycare but he wouldn’t talk to the other kids and often got picked on by the older boys for being shy. Marcus had stayed at the daycare after school all year and once the daycare had closed, he was known for staying at the Daycare to talk to the janitor. By the end of the week I had finally gotten him to go play with some other kids and it wasn’t until the last day of our visit that I learned why Marcus was so shy. Marcus’s mom committed suicide when Marcus was quite young and his father who raised him alone was an alcoholic. One of the staff members of the daycare found out that he had been staying late not to talk to the janitor but because he was consistently jumped by a group of highschoolers outside his apartment while walking home at the normal end of the day and stayed late so that the kids wouldn’t be out while he walked home. The fact that an 8 year old kid had to experience all of this at such a young age shattered my heart. The America I’ve experienced was always safe to ride my bike down the block and to leave my backdoor unlocked so my friend's could come in. Living in such a safe community, I took my safety for granted; I have never had to worry about getting hurt on the way home from school or grabbed out of my house and never realized this was a privilege not granted to so many kids.

Experience 2

Last summer I visited Biloxi, Mississippi with my church and was assigned the job of helping at a local homeless shelter food bank called Back Bay Mission. As a resident of one of the wealthiest cities in Ohio I have never seen the effects of poverty and hunger as prominently as I did in Biloxi. Being able to talk to these people and hear their stories changed how I viewed wealth in America. Many of my goals are well secured by the life I was born into and I have never had to think about how much harder these people's lives were because of complete, uncontrollable poverty. All my life I had been taught that hard work pays off and no matter who you are you have the opportunities provided by America to be successful. This may be true however, success to me has always been a white picket fence life and for many of the people I talked to in Mississippi, success means giving their children a place to sleep and food to eat.

Experience 3

My grandpa lives in rural Ohio in a town called Grelton where the population is 43 people. He has been a farmer since he graduated from high school and has extremely conservative values compared to most people. My grandpa is quite comfortable with his own values and chooses not to engage with people or opportunities that do not follow his beliefs. Because of his limited experience of diversity and extreme political and social views, he re enforces the hole in the political spectrum. My grandpa, like many others, unfortunately restricts his learning capabilities by watching strictly one news source, one political ideology, one religion, and really only the other 42 people in Grelton. You may not be stuck in Grelton Ohio but you surely are stuck in whatever bubble you came from until you seek an alternative situation. Subconsciously our brains ignore information that doesn’t pertain to our everyday lives. Meaning, without these alternate perspectives you will always subconsciously stand politically biased. 

Experience 4

In my household my brother and I have never been a part of political conversations and I assumed that all democrats aligned with my left leaning mother and all republicans aligned with my right leaning father. After taking AP American Government and Politics I now know how wrong my assumptions of my parents were. Hearing political conversations in class, I learned that I am actually in the very small and declining population of centrists. Being able to talk to very liberal people as well as very republican people changed absolutely nothing. However, being able to listen and consider all political views from these conversations changed everything. This class has taught me that just because you're louder doesn’t mean you're more right and that no matter in which way you believe, you are wrong because of your bias. No one wants to be wrong but by accepting that there is always a differing perspective you have to be. You’ll never be able to be unbiased, the best you can do is truly listen to others, especially those you disagree with.

The point of expressing these differences in what it means to be an American is not to change your mind by hearing my experiences, it is to encourage you to seek those life changing experiences for yourself. As much as you talk about the young girls who can’t afford to carry a baby to term, you don’t help them. As much as you talk about gun rights being stripped from individuals, you don’t help them. Whatever your issue is, complaining about the administration doesn’t provide anything unless you do. The ignorance of many looney politicians isn’t a wrong opinion, just a different experience and unless you seek the experiences incompatible to yours, you will become just like those looney politicians you ridiculed. Diversifying the minds of future voters will cure the political divide that causes hate and undesirable issues in America.