Dear Liberal friends, Maybe you never knew you censored me or made me feel this way. Maybe I should have been strong enough to tell you and risk the consequences. That part is on me. But perhaps now is a good time to share with you how I have felt for the past 12 years. 

You might want to get a beverage and settle in, this has been inside for a long time…

As a conservative with some libertarian beliefs, my opinions seemed irrelevant and quite often censored.  I didn’t vote for President Obama in 2008, but I hoped that many of the things he spoke about would come to fruition.  But years went by and the hopes I had after hearing those uplifting speeches really fell flat for me.

It appeared the division between the races seemed to be growing as if nothing occurred in the 60’s to bring about equality.  There was more and more government and less things being fixed.   I wasn’t the only one who felt this way; many others were also disenchanted, and so…

2009 the Tea Party Movement was born.

I feared that we were creating a society dependent on the government and raising generation after generation of youth who were not being taught our history or the world’s history; the bad and the good. Generations who took freedom, safety, and choice for granted and who had no idea where Iran, Iraq or even Israel were located. I felt like most Americans were not being listened to; only a handful who had louder voices, more money and supported by special interest groups. These were the people who determined our future; people who appeared to hate what America stood for. 

I started to take more interest in politics than in the past, but found I couldn’t outwardly disagree with President Obama’s policies because I, like others, would have been considered racist.  I objected with the man’s policies, not his color – his policies. 

Recently, President Obama stated in his book A Promised Land, “It was as if my very presence in the White House had triggered a deep-seated panic, a sense that the natural order had been disrupted.”  Mr. President, that thought honestly never ever crossed my mind, nor anyone else I knew.  I believe people are chosen for the Presidency by the platform they present, not their color.  It’s what they can do for the people, the nation, the world that should be important.

As the divide grew in the country, it became apparent to me that it wasn’t just the Presidency.  It was the government wanting and needing more control.  The government, whose apparent lack of listening, was causing the unrest and discontent. 

I thought,

“Should people be in office this long?”

Examples: Patrick Leahy in office for 46 years and Chuck Grassley in office for 40 years     

I realized I was tired of politicians promising the American people help, via handouts, not jobs.  Why was I expected to follow laws that were not followed by those in government or who had the cash to get away with it. 

I loved that America was the place refugees searched out. It was becoming apparent, though, that immigration laws only meant something to the politicians during election years.  They either ignored them or enforced them at a whim. I was tired of the two parties caring more about themselves than of ‘we the people’. 

As the years passed the feelings and sense that things were not right started to slowly slip out in conversations.  It wasn’t much, as I would be put in my place, censored. But as those small bits of unhappiness came out, I noticed a distance between some family members and friends, because I no longer believed what they believed. We couldn’t have a conversation on our differences, because I was always wrong. Disagreeing with President Obama was not an option.

All the discontent I felt was obviously shared by many more than just me. 

Proof?

‘He who shall not be named’ was voted President in 2016. Anyone who supported this non-politician instantly became a racist, homophobic, xenophobic, bigot, sexist, entitled and a Nazi.  

Had my liberal friends viewed me like this before 2016?  Had I called them names for the previous eight years?  I tried to think back, and you know, I couldn’t come up with anything.  Nada…

After eight years it was still impossible to discuss politics with friends or family, who were liberal-leaning.  I was an idiot for voting for him and they were correct in their beliefs about him. Their reasons to hate this person were valid and I was wrong for not blindly believing everything they believed. Any accomplishments he made were dismissed, as they could not get through their distain for him.

And now that I voted for “hwsnbn”…

I was a zombie kept alive only by believing in everything he did and said and I had no mind or will of my own.  I stopped thinking logically and never questioned anything because I had become one of “those” people.

Fast forward, its now been 12 years of not being able to speak about or discuss any of these issues. The examples you set, and your reasoning has finally sunk in.  Here is what I have learned from you:

• Everyone who does not support what I believe, should keep quiet; I am always right. 
• Because you are different than me by way of color, sex, religion or political party, your differences will only be deemed acceptable if it benefits me or my causes.
• I should continually post what a bad president the current president is if I did not vote for him or her.
• I should listen blindly to whatever mainstream media tells me (Fox too) and forget about researching things myself.
• I should only listen to political pundits you tell me to even if I want to widen my knowledge base to all points of views.
• I will cancel everyone or everything that doesn’t align with my beliefs.  I could just not listen to them or not purchase from them if they do not think as I do, but ignoring them won’t do. I must destroy them as they do not adhere to my beliefs.
• When anyone adds a rebuttal to a story I’ve posted I should ignore it. It will be wrong and I don’t have time to research the facts so my post must be accurate.
• I should avoid any discussion with anyone who thinks differently than me because that could cause something called, compromise.
• I should blindly stay home, order everything from Amazon, Uber eats, watch Netflix or whatever programming that I am told to watch per the MSM, government and social media.  By doing this I will be taken care of and will be safe.
• I should post solid colors on my social media supporting whatever is currently in play, #metoo, #blacklivesmatter, #humanrights, #socialjustice, instead of listening to both sides on the subject in question to get ALL the facts.  Either way, my side will always be right.
• I should support only peaceful protests in which businesses are burned down, Federal buildings are attacked, and people die and call any other peaceful protests I don’t believe in, ‘insurrections’ in which Federal buildings are attacked and people die.
• I should not read the policies or platforms that candidates run on.  Rather I should only vote for them because I am registered to that party, and I will hate the other person running against them.
• I should go willingly to re-education camps so we can all think alike – things are easier when we all think alike.  On social media we can all post puppy pictures or what we’ve eaten for dinner.  I will post absolutely nothing questioning why government officials do what they do.  By doing all this I will not be deleted from social media.  The social media where I live for the “likes.” Take a look at the Black Mirror episode Nosedive, Season 3, Episode 1, to see the direction the “likes” are taking us.
• I should ignore the Constitution and the Amendments and the lives that were taken or ruined by wars defending them. After all America was only an experiment and it failed.
• I should assume that no one on the conservative side cares about the environment, job creation, human rights, police reform, immigration or the homeless.
• I should be happy that Amazon, the day of the inauguration, offered to distribute the C19 vaccine.  Hatred for a leader outweighs helping those in need.  Especially if we really, really hate that person.

But guess what?  I am going to try and do NONE of the above. I am not going to censor you…

• I will listen with respect to your opinions if I am given the same. I will support the person I did not vote for. When he /she “lies” as they will, as they all do, I will not post on social media “I told you so” or that all their followers are evil insurrectionists and that he or she is the devil incarnate. I will live, like you, with the consequences of the actions they and the government take until I can voice my opinion by voting them out.
• I will pray that there will be integrity in upcoming elections – in person with an id – like our constitutional republic has done successfully for years.  In the meantime, I will do what I can at a grassroot level to bring trust back to the election process.    
• I will not put you on a ‘list’ and assume you are like ‘those’ who have destroyed multiple cities throughout the summer of 2020 and who looted and burned down small businesses and ruined lives and killed so many. There are good and bad people in businesses, government and even our neighborhoods.  I pray that the good ones will rise to the top.
• With that said, I will not generalize everyone and everything.  I will think of you as an individual not just part of a group.
• I will not automatically believe you are wrong, and I am right and will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are an intelligent human who can logically think through a problem. All sides of the problem and the long-term implications of the solution to that problem.
• I will not make you afraid to put up a sign supporting your candidate or criticize your clothing.  I will not key your car if you have an American flag sticker on it or a bumper sticker I don’t agree with.
• When we speak, I will calmly state why I support certain things. If I don’t have an answer to your questions, I will get back to you with facts. and will not raise my voice in an emotional response.
• I will not believe the opinions on the MSM and will look for the facts myself.
• I will not ask 72% of the people in the United States to apologize for their whiteness as I would not ask 18% of the Hispanics/Latino population who live here to denounce their color or the 13% of the Black population who live here to ignore their color.  The 5.7% Asian, 1.1% American Indian/Alaska Native, .2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, 5% some other race and 3.4% two or more races will also not be asked to denounce their skin color.
• The reason I won’t ask this of the 328+ million people living in America is because I don’t care what color you are.  We are all 100% American.  I respect (and sometimes envy) your traditions, your culture, your religion, and your heritage, but if you live here legally, you are an American (with all the good and bad shit).  And if you are here illegally, then let’s work on that.

Side note:  For those who count up percentages, like I do, the Hispanic/Latino percentage on this U.S. Census link was not included in the breakdown of the American population number of 328,239,523 and counting.

• I will not be jealous if you are a different color than me and make a gazillion dollars.  I will say, good job, wish I had your skills.  You must have worked very hard to get that position and make all that cash.
• I will not judge someone by their color, sex or pronoun preference but by their character, their integrity, and their work ethic. There will be no quota on who can and cannot be in my life, I’ll take all of you crazies.
• I will never publicly shame you for your beliefs, i.e., social media, at a restaurant, or while shopping in a store, instead I will talk to you, text or email you my feelings as we are not in middle school and no one needs more drama in their lives.
• If you try to change my mind on a subject with your opinions, I will respect them more when they are backed up by facts and references.
• I will not censor or cancel your thoughts, opinions or rantings even if I don’t agree with them.  This is a country of freedoms and one of them is speech.  If you are inciting anything crazy, I will speak to you as an adult, to find out the reasoning behind it.
• I will never complain that you are quoting a “white” person.  Because if you’re quoting “any” person you must have a valid reason. It’s not my place to say who you can or cannot quote.
• I will continually work to THINK before I speak:

Is it…

          True

          Helpful

          Inspiring

          Necessary

          Kind

• I will never stop asking questions, of anyone, about anything and everything, even if you cancel me. This is because I am a free human being which I am incredibly grateful for.
• I am a work in progress so my views can change from experiences I’ve had.  With that said, I will not bring up something you wrote in my yearbook 48 years ago.

Here are some great quote for all those of you who haven’t already blocked, unfriended or cancelled me. 

“My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.” – Adlai Stevenson

“Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.” – Salman Rushdie

“Censorship reflects society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” – Potter Stewart

“They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.” – Pastor Martin Niemöller

Thanks for letting me dump 12 years of pent-up frustrations on you.

Grateful for you,

Sheree

p.s. I just listened to a Podcast on Unity by Kira Davis. You should definitely visit her site, but her main point was perhaps we should NOT Unite. Rather we should learn, once again, how to tolerate each other and respect that we all have different opinions. Her thoughts came at the perfect time!