I am a proud conservative. I voted for Donald Trump. I love this country and its laws. I love guns. I am proud of my heritage. I do not support DACA. I do not support further restrictive gun legislation. I do not support apologizing for my race.
I attend a school that proclaims and supposedly relishes in diversity yet cannot conceive nor respect the fact that there are many students who have different political views than those in leadership. And I’m not just talking about students here. Some of the professors reading this are to blame as well with their quips and “coincidental examples” on the Trump presidency, guns, DACA, and racial tension.
Having talked to many other conservatives on campus, we feel our opinions and values are not held to the same standard as those of our peers because we are the minority and many of us are not willing to cause commotion to get ourselves heard. I am exhausted of it being assumed that I support everything preached and taught at this school just because it is popular or the “right” thing to do.
For example, just because I am a Christian and have compassion for my fellow man does not mean I deem “justice” as being in favor of DACA as it is preached in chapel; just because I mourn for those lost and affected by school shootings does not mean I am going to forfeit my lawful right to own firearms; just because I detest socioeconomic and racial discrimination does not mean I am sorry for being a middle-class, caucasian male.
But do I say anything? Rarely, because I’m not the sort to openly lament and complain until I am catered to. It just isn’t worth my time. No, I am not going to disrespect my professor and disrupt the education of my peers by walking out of a classroom in the middle of their lecture to make a “non-political” political statement out of the deaths of those seventeen students and faculty killed that fateful day in Parkland, Florida. I also don’t need to be told that what I believe in is wrong when I did not ask for an unwelcome opinion in the first place.
I do understand that we are living in a very politically-charged time, where middle ground can be found few and far between. However, I am not asking you to think the way I think nor am I asking you to back down from what you believe in; I am simply asking for a little consideration next time you decide to voice your “anti-Trump” or similar opinion in class or try to criticize my way of life and thinking. I am calling on all of us, not just those who disagree with me, to act out of courtesy and thoughtfulness, not just on this campus, but in our communities back home and adventures abroad. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and opinion respected.
Contact Grant Langely at glangley20@my.whitworth.edu