Can a nation blanketed in hate move towards love?

Column by: Alana Sundermann

sundermanna1@findlay.edu

@alana_sundy23

“For several hours on Jan. 6, the Capitol convulsed in chaos as violent rioters stormed past police lines and sent lawmakers and aides fleeing for safety inside the building,” journalist, Kyle Cheney reports from Politico.

What happened at the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 is a day to remember and to reflect on where we stand as a nation. In the last months of his presidency, former President Donald Trump, claimed that the results of the election were fraudulent and unjust or in his own words, “If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us,” journalist Jane C. Timm records, from NBC News.

President Trump filed more than 60 lawsuits regarding the election process forcing states to recount votes or in some cases triple count the votes, claims NBC. Trump was placed on a 12 hour ban from Twitter, in suspicion of the encouraged insurrection, but when the ban lifted, he tweeted out to his followers in gratitude; suggesting they were patriots who shouldn’t be contempt. And with that, Twitter made the executive decision to permanently ban Trump.

“In an instant, the megaphone of the leader of the free world was wiped out, along with his following of 88 million he had built throughout his presidency—some of whom amplified his every word,” journalists, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Nitasha Tiku report from the Washington Post.

The insurrection on Jan. 6 is a direct result of our leadership in this country, citizens in the United States are now doubting and questioning our media, our journalists and our democracy; and to some extent questioning media and news is appropriate, but radically lying and spreading information that isn’t true goes against everything that America stands for.

As I continue to watch, listen and understand what is going on in my country, I see two sides. While both appear radically different to the naked eye, I think the sides are more alike than people think. Voices want to be heard; people want to be understood but we let our differences destroy one another. People don’t take the time to get to know someone on the “other side” because they’ve already decided that they’re too different from them. People are not open to hearing other’s beliefs, we automatically create a bubble for ourselves, blocking out any information we don’t agree with.

If we don’t allow ourselves to be open to change, to be open to learning and understanding one another, from where we come from to how we were raised to even the things we have been exposed to throughout our lives then there will be no peace. People experience things similarly, in the same way they experience things differently, we each have our own perceptions, it’s time we embrace them.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who changed the perceptions of nation, once said, “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” King moved in love, he advocated for justice, peace and equality but he never inflicted violence.

A nation will fail and remain divided if differences are solved in violence, but when we move with love, and kindness we become united.  

  

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