The Difference Between Intolerance and Unkindness
When it comes to the political divide, there is a difference between being intolerant of another’s beliefs and being unkind.
Recently, a friend of mine recommended an article to me from his school newspaper in Michigan. The article had a title regarding being kind to others, so I was expecting another cliché piece about being a “bucket filler” and spreading kindness. However, I was surprised to find that the article was actually politically oriented, specifically around the conservative end of the spectrum. The “kindness” that the piece was referring to was the fact that conservative Trump-supporting students of the school were calling for a more “kind” reaction to their political beliefs. They did not like being called racists, to summarize it bluntly. While to them the word racist may be interpreted as a personal attack, to liberal-leaning students it may be simply interpreted as a factual statement. Trump has made numerous racist comments, and as a supporter, one can assume that you either endorse or are at least neutral to these policies and statements, not openly against them. So, one may ask themselves, is calling someone a racist when they support the actions of someone who is blatantly racist really unkind, or can this be labeled as justified verbal political retaliation?
It is indisputable that 2020 politics are extremely volatile and people have very polarized and passionate opinions regarding their chosen politicians and policies they favor. Democrats and Republicans are close to a “civil war,” as many call it, with disputes about oppression, human rights and the government’s role in such issues becoming exceedingly more volatile. With this divide, it must be noted that different parties place varying levels of importance on different political issues. A poll from August by the Pew Research Center surveyed how much Republicans and Democrats care about certain significant political topics as of recently. It was clear that Democrats care more about human rights and climate change-related issues, whereas Republicans care more about gun policy and the economy. This is quite clearly a large split in terms of political ideologies with one revolving around national power and personal liberties and the other around more community good and overall welfare.
Many Trump supporters follow him in large part for his tax cuts and history as a businessman, disregarding his other anti-human rights comments and actions as something that is less important than their economical ideologies. This is simply the nature of their ideology. Democrats, on the other hand, are against him in large part because of his actions against human rights. Regardless of the importance individuals place on certain issues though, it really can not be disputed that Trump is racist, sexist and overall discriminatory. It is simply a question of if Democrats and even Republicans against Trump are allowed to express their anger at this through intolerance. The students were mad at being declared racists and called this unkind, but being a racist is also inherently unkind. After all, if you are advocating for racial equality and care for minorities, then would you not be vehemently against Trump?
Throughout history, there have been so many revolutions in the name of human rights; the Haitian Revolution, the Civil War and the French Revolution being a few. Now, it feels as if we have gone to a standstill or even gone backwards as toxic opinions become more openly normalized by our president and those that support him. The conservative students at this school are mad at getting called racists and other related terms, but is it not fair to assume that of them and call them as such, as they publicly and enthusiastically endorse a man that openly says these things and makes his stance on the issues so obvious?
It has also now been shown on multiple occasions that Trump has made a multitude of comments that are either racist, homophobic, sexist, mysognistic, xenophobic or even a combination of these. To any who may disagree with this statement or claim them to be untrue, you can turn to Trump’s Twitter history and this convenient list of his “unprecedented steps” for the LGBTQ+ community. You may even look to this transcript where he openly makes numerous sexist remarks. No matter how much one may claim that Trump says he is supportive of minority groups, actions speak louder than words.
With these variables in mind, intolerance and unkindness are two extremely different things. Telling someone that they are hideously ugly is obviously not kind, but calling someone a racist qualifies as a just intolerance due to its nature as a toxic ideology. Racism is not a tolerable opinion. Homophobia is not a tolerable opinion. If you stand by and ignore these rights in lieu of other factors, do not get mad when people call you out on being associated with these toxic opinions; it’s true.
Lex Dembo is beginning her third year as a part of The Owl’s staff as Editor in Chief. Last school year she was the editor of the arts and entertainment section, and this year she is excited to take on a higher leadership role. Lex is a passionate writer and is looking to pursue journalism outside of her high school career. Having been a part of the staff for so long, she hopes to make a lasting impact on the publication before she graduates. She is a member of the varsity swim team and Troupe 60 and enjoys being involved in extracurriculars where she gets together with her peers. In addition to being interested in school activities, she is also very passionate about politics and current events....
Sam McDiarmid-Sterling • Dec 14, 2020 at 11:13 pm
Wow! I love the way you address one of the more tricky social dynamics, where polarized politics may have caused some people to support a bigot, but not want to be classified as one themselves. In the case of our current president, I agree with your logic; if you support someone that’s racist, you are supporting racist ideas, and therefore racist. On the other hand, I can see an alternate viewpoint where the polarization of parties in our country forces people to balance the qualities of candidates. For example, If you are overwhelmingly in support of a free and unrestricted capitalist economy(and that is the most important issue for you), you might have voted for Donald Trump because he is in support of a free market, while Biden might support bills increasing corporate income taxes. This part’s tricky. If you support any party because of a single policy, does that make you necessarily a stedfast supporter of all the parties policies? No. Does that show that you value one issue, such as the economy, over the sum of the issues the party you support unethical policy on? Yes. Overall, I think you did a great job analyzing the conditions that might allow one to assume a person will support all of a politicians polices, even if they don’t like to be portrayed as a bad person.
Jamie Hirshland • Dec 14, 2020 at 4:27 pm
This is such a good point. I’m really glad this was brought up because I have seen this topic a lot recently, and I always think to myself why Trump supporters think it is unjust to call them racist when they are either blatantly being racist, or are literally just supporting someone who is blatantly racist. To an extent, I understand why they feel that way. Who wouldn’t hate being called racist or other terms similar to that? Of course, no one wants to admit they’re racist, but it comes to a point where it’s complete ignorance. On one hand, it’s basically saying “Oh that’s rude to call me that”, which ignores the part where they simply are racist or support racism. But then on the other hand, it is creating another problem where attention shouldn’t be drawn to. Instead of bringing the attention towards being called racist, Trump supporters (or specifically the ones you mentioned in Michigan) should bring their attention to the actual problem: racism. I think it was really good that you brought up a chart showing the different political sides and their views on the same topics. Bringing up facts and sources was really helpful and helps prove your point even further. Whether or not Trump supporters like being called racist, Donald Trump himself is racist, sexist, homophobic, I could go on and on. And no matter your political affiliation, that should be obvious, given there is literal proof. This article was great and really well written. Great job!
Lilja Anderson • Dec 14, 2020 at 4:03 pm
This was a great article! I liked the flow of you’re writing and how you included multiple outside pieces of evidence. It not only proved your overall, and specific points, but also increased your credibility around this topic. Your analysis of wether calling someone racist is unkind was clear and well thought out. I think you emphasized your overall argument very well about how, if one supports someone who is openly racist and intolerant, than that person is inherently racist. It’s been shocking to see the overwhelming support for Trump, someone who has time and time again been racist, homophobic, and sexist. People can not claim they deserve acceptance of their views when they are against certain people receiving basic human rights. This was a great and informative article, love you Lex!
Austen McCarty • Dec 14, 2020 at 1:17 pm
I really enjoyed this article, and I think you made a very good point about how remaining cordial to those who openly support discrimination is inherently unkind. I, for one, feel significantly less comfortable around people who either support Trump or support those who do. I find it worrying that an article which was essentially asking students to accept and condone prejudice was published in a school. It almost definitely made a significant portion of the students feel much less safe in the place where they are supposed to be learning, because the school has basically said that the feelings of those in favor of their oppression is more important than every student feeling welcome and respected. Overall, I thought this was a very well written article!
Autumn Nack • Dec 14, 2020 at 9:48 am
I liked hearing your perspective on the difference between intolerance and unkindness and how that relates to Democrates and Republicans. Often times Trump supporters do not acknowledge the homophobic, sexist, mysognistic, xenophobic that Trump has said. In the article you had even added links to Trumps recordings of him being sexist and a twitter link to his racists comments, which I think was a strong addition to your article. I enjoyed reading this article, I hadn’t thought of intolerance used in this context and it made me think in a new way.
Annika Bjorklund • Dec 13, 2020 at 2:02 pm
This was a really interesting article and analysis of a very polarized issue between different political sides. I think it is interesting how you pointed out that each political side is focusing on opposite issues and that these are what make it difficult to see eye to eye, to some extent. Democrats are focused on things like climate change and Republicans on the economy and taxes. I also think it’s interesting how you pointed out that Trump supporters focus on what he says and preaches he can do while those who oppose Trump are focused on all the things he has done that are clearly so bad. When the Black Lives Matter movement picked up momentum in June this year, many young people used social media to show their support. Some were slower than others to begin speaking out and many argued that being silent and appearing neutral, even if you weren’t, was a show of support for racism. This is very similar to why people are calling Trump supporters racists. Many of them turn a blind eye to racist comments and continue to support a racist leader. To me, that makes them racist whether they like the term or not. I don’t believe we can tolerate racism, and calling them racist is not being unkind it is being intolerant. I appreciated your perspective, it helped me clarify mine!
Annika Marie Bjorklund • Dec 13, 2020 at 2:01 pm
This was a really interesting article and analysis of a very polarized issue between different political sides. I think it is interesting how you pointed out that each political side is focusing on opposite issues and that these are what make it difficult to see eye to eye, to some extent. Democrats are focused on things like climate change and Republicans on the economy and taxes. I also think its interesting how you pointed out that Trump supporters focus on what he says and preaches he can do while those who oppose Trump are focused on all the things he has done that are clearly so bad. When the Black Lives Matter movement picked up momentum in June this year, many young people used social media to show their support. Some were slower than other to begin speaking out and many argued that being silent and appearing neutral, even if you weren’t was a show of support for racism. This is very similar to why people are calling Trump supporters racists. Many of them turn a blind eye to racist comments and continue to support a racist leader. To me, that makes them racist whether they like the term or not. I don’t believe we can tolerate racism, and calling them racist is no being unkind it is being intolerant. I appreciated your perspective, it helped me clarify mine!
Zoe Heart • Dec 13, 2020 at 12:47 pm
This is a very good point. If somebody wants our country to be governed by a man who fuels white supremacy, that makes them a supporter of racism, or a racist. It’s 2020 and it’s not kind to tolerate racism anymore. Same deal with homophobia. I also really liked how you would link evidence that you referred to because a lot of it was really interesting and I could explore it to my heart’s desire. Great article!
Isabel Oliver • Dec 9, 2020 at 9:51 am
This is such a good point. If you are standing behind someone that is racist and homophobic, are you not preaching the same things? And if you truly aren’t racist nor homophobic, why would you support someone that is? Such an interesting article.