In the third grade, I vividly remember class the day after Trump was elected in 2016. The majority of my classmates came from non-American backgrounds, and even as eight-year-olds, we feared the future ahead of us.
The hateful rhetoric he has spread since his 2016 campaign to now, from calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” to referring to Somalis as “garbage”, has done nothing but divide and scare the American people.
Our country has reached a level of polarization that now feels insurmountable. At the core of this divide is a failure among political leaders to prioritize unity and understanding over division and partisanship. If Congress continues to engage in petty politics rather than finding common ground, the gulf between citizens will only widen and worsen the tension.
“Get the f**k out of Minneapolis.”
These words, shouted by Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey after the fatal shooting of Renee Good at the hands of ICE, encapsulate the anger and distrust that Congress has caused between the government and the people it claims to represent and protect.
A video analysis of the incident from the New York Times directly contradicts official claims from federal officials and Trump and JD Vance that the ICE officer was being run over; they continue to disrespect the life of an innocent citizen, and the domestic terrorism congress is causing in America. The abominable lack of compassion from our president and his dedication to tearing our democracy apart have done irreversible damage.
Polling data from the Pew Research Center polling reported that by 2022, 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as more immoral than other Americans–sharp increases from 2016, the year President Trump was elected into office for his first term.
America now feels like it is defined by fear and uncertainty. Every tragedy now becomes a battleground for partisan narratives and hostility, and instead of our president and political leaders trying to unify our country, they continue to push forward rhetoric that deepens mistrust and fear. We are continuously disappointed in what America has become: It feels as if we are going back in time and undoing all the work we did to get here in the first place. As the once bright colors of our country continue to fade, I encourage everyone to confront what America has become and decide whether or not we will fight for a unified nation or continue to be torn, damaged, and broken.
