Right Wing or Left Wing?

It makes me extremely sad to see incidents like at Charlottesville. But above all, it makes me sad that it doesn’t matter what side some people are on, they choose to hate. Whether we are a right or left wing, conservative or liberal, I think the most important part of a human being is their individuality because each one of us is unique.

There are certain topics that I can admit will cause fierce arguments. But at the end of the day, hate and violence will not change someone’s opinion. We’re allowed to get angry, but we must not let anger consume us.

I gave this example on my facebook. If aliens were to come down and realize that planet earth has sociopaths and serial killers and they conclude the following:

Alien diagnose on human beings: They are all sociopaths and serial killers.

This would be an exaggeration on behalf of the aliens. So, I find it unfair, that some people, because I saw it on my Facebook page and all over social media, claim that all white people are racists or that all right wing people are Nazis. In the same manner, some have said that all the people on the left wing are socialists or communists. Both are exaggerations, and both create racial division.

I know people, and I am sure most of us do, from different sides and all over the political spectrum. I respect people’s views. That doesn’t mean that I will support it or agree with you. But to hate? This makes me so disappointed in humanity. As I said, we can disagree and feel passionate about a subject. However, it doesn’t matter who it is, we should not condone hate and violence. But people condone terrible actions as long as a certain group or person is part of their political affiliation or their skin color. Once again, this is wrong. I don’t support it.

I think that we’re all inherently prejudice. Notice that I am saying “prejudice” not racist. For a developmental psychology class that I took a long time ago, I never forgot this: that prejudice can be a survival skill. Why? Because it helps us recognize danger, such as when a newborn cries if a stranger carries him/her but calms down in the arms of his/her mother. Of course, I am summarizing and paraphrasing.

My own example of this is as a woman. If I see a group of men (regardless of skin color), say at night, I will not deliberately walk into that crowd. Maybe they’re harmless or maybe not. I don’t know. All I know is that I am alone at night, so it’s best to avoid it. My prejudice would tell me, “Hey, there’s a group of men there at night, and you’re alone. What if they are assaulters of some sort?” Prejudice isn’t always a bad thing. Prejudice occurs due to the fear of the unknown, or just not knowing. Like my example of the group of men. I just don’t know. It doesn’t mean that I hate men. I just choose to be careful.

So, even if we are prejudiced, sometimes it’s easy to do research. Ask questions and learn and or meet new people. My personal experience with most people is that they usually think that I am Mexican. I am not. I’m American with Guatemalan descent. When I explain myself to people, they take the time to listen. And I have encountered those who say, “Yeah, same shit.” If they do say this, well, that’s discriminatory and ignorant.

We can’t do anything about those who choose to stay ignorant. But we can do something about ourselves. As long as we’re open to learning about other people, especially when it comes to race and ethnicity, we can slowly eliminate prejudice or the unknown. We all make mistakes. I have made my share of mine. However, being willing to learn from those errors improves our knowledge.

One thing I always say, any type of extremism is a cancer to our society. Some think they’re doing it for the right reasons too, “Oh it’s for my people.” And this comes along with condoning hate and violence as long as it’s for your side. Very wrong and heartbreaking.

I’ve learned something in the last 7 months, some human beings only want to hate, and they want all of us to be consumed by it. I will not let anyone poison my mind with their hatred regardless of their skin color or political affiliation.