Artwork by Rose Satola - used with permission.
Hillary supporter, Trump supporter, or anything in-between, all have one thing in common: we are all a part of the United States. With tensions rising after the outcome of the Presidential Election, it is a time to look inward rather than outward and try to mend what created the divide between the populace of our country.
No matter which candidate you supported, this is a point in our nation where we must extend a hand to the other, regardless of where they stand politically, and have all sides reevaluate how they treat each other moving forward.
The divisiveness of this election does not have just one side to blame - there could have been one catalyst for the ensuing divide, but the bulk of the work was carried out by the people’s reaction.
Whether this was carried out by right-wing supporters telling left-wing supporters that they are young, spoiled freeloaders, left-wing supporters telling right-wing supporters that they are racist, sexist, homophobic idiots, or middle-grounded third party voters saying they have the moral high-ground for voting Gary Johnson or Jill Stein - we have all contributed to the outcome.
The question still remains: what can be done to quell the flames that this election has caused across our nation? The answer is quite simple really: we need to realize the struggles of another and show empathy for their situations. By doing so, we can prevent fallout like this from ever happening again.
The fallout is not necessarily the reaction of the public to Donald Trump being elected, it is more about what happened during the election cycle that caused a divide between people in both ideological and social settings. It is about how we can look inward and change our perceptions of each other to ensure that such a divide never takes place again.
This can be accomplished by expanding our social horizons. If you notice that your friends are predominantly a single ethnicity, reach out to others and add diversity to your group of friends.
If your view of the struggles of others is limited to what you hear on the news or from other people, expand your horizons and talk with people in those situations to get their side. Do not limit your way of thinking to just one track; make an attempt to look through the eyes of others to fully understand the gravity of a situation.
The beauty of the United States is that we have shown we can come back from a harsh divide. Healing is always done in baby-steps, and every extended hand to a neighbor is one baby-step, making us closer to uniting together.