Every day, it becomes easier to judge and harder to understand. I am saddened by recent events on campus, and what stood out to me most was how quickly the daily news turned into political warfare targeted at fellow students.
Politics is a heavy subject, especially in light of current events on campus and beyond. The word itself can carry a negative connotation. Words such as division, extremism, violence, and assumption quickly come to my mind. In this environment, political ideology tends to overshadow personal identity, reducing complex individuals into simplified categories.
It feels as if we have lost the ability to listen, to respectfully disagree, and to recognize the humanity in those who believe differently. It is far too common to overlook the why. Human behavior is just the tip of the iceberg; what matters most is what drives their choice.
If public policy can be seen as an expression of values, interpreting it becomes entirely personal. Because the translation of those values is not always obvious, people often fill in the gaps with assumptions to protect their own. These assumptions frequently spill beyond the policy itself and shape how individuals are categorized politically.
Public policy decisions can feel personal, but it’s important to remember that one’s stance on a single issue does not dictate their association with a certain political party. For example, when someone expresses a pro-life position, others may rush to classify them as Republican and assume their views mirror the red vote on all policies. But in reality, the individual is a registered Democrat. This illustrates how quickly—and inaccurately—we compress nuanced values into partisan labels.
I believe the subconscious labels attached to political parties contribute to the growing separation within our nation. By constructing party identities from the most extreme examples of an individual’s behavior and using them as ammunition, we reinforce harmful stereotypes and polarization.
What were once mechanisms for connection and representation have become dividing lines; I have seen the media referring to the political environment as “good versus evil.” This framing not only amplifies hostility but also prevents any attempt at genuine understanding. Moments like these make me realize how far we’ve drifted from the principles that once shaped our national identity. The U.S. wasn’t founded on division, but on the belief that different perspectives are necessary to sustain balance and thoughtful complexity.
In my early education, I was taught the melting pot metaphor. This idea points to the fact that cross-cultural integration laid the foundation of the United States. Major cities are home to cultural neighborhoods such as Chinatown and Little Italy, and American cuisine is a dynamic, ever-evolving fusion of immigrant influences. Even baseball was established as a community-building effort, connecting people of all backgrounds.
The beauty of the melting pot is the assimilation of values, traditions, and perspectives, all of which contribute to our national identity. This idea challenges the rigid political divides we see today and reinforces the importance of looking beyond labels to understand one another as human beings.
Connection is essential to well-being, and beneath every opinion lies a value. More often than not, the moral standards of differing arguments are more similar than they appear. When debate is sparked by curiosity rather than the urge to prove someone wrong, it opens the door to deeper understanding without judgment. If we can return to seeing each other as human beings before seeing each other as political opponents, we can begin to heal what has been fractured. Understanding begins where assumptions end.
See the human first, and the rest follows.
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