Caroline Niehoff
Copy Editor
Rejected, outspoken and looked down upon. Colleges encourage a massive blue wave that washes over the right-wing minority. We are pressured to keep our political beliefs to ourselves in fear of being judged by the democratic students among us. Regardless of how they see us as people, we are degraded by them simply because we hold different political views. Republicans are generalized as rude, narcissistic and heartless, but we do not all follow that stereotype. Surrounded by my left-wing peers, I feel pressured to sit still and keep my mouth shut in order to avoid controversy.
Republican students get a bad rap, and it makes many of us cower in the shadows of the blue wave. I am afraid of being seen in a lower light simply because of my political party. In multiple arguments I have backed up my claims with factual evidence and was quickly shut down by nasty labels. I’ve been called racist because I support and respect the police. I’ve been told I don’t support women’s rights because I morally lean toward pro-life. I’ve been called a white supremacist because I support Trump. Whenever I try to speak my mind I am shut down by judgement and false accusations.
I am not alone in this. One of my Rhode Island College peers, who prefers to stay anonymous, said “I don’t feel like I can talk when it comes to politics. I feel like I either have to lie or not say anything at all.” Another one of my friends got into an argument with a left-wing student and got called "a disgraceful minority" for being a republican. One of my professors despised me for my political views. She liked me as a student until I exposed myself as a republican. From that point on she ignored my raised hand until it was the last one up and spoke to me in a condescending way. It affected me to the point where I had to drop the class.
I don’t judge people for their political views, and I would expect to be treated the same. Unfortunately, there is such a raging hate for the right that many of us feel the need to stay quiet about it. Political parties don’t define a person, so why do we get degraded when we speak up? Generalizing and stereotyping do good for no one. Judge someone based on their personality rather than their party.