My name is Rachael Balcom, and you could call me a right-wing millennial. I never placed this label over my head until I got to college. I’ve always firmly believed that political parties are dividing our country and tearing it apart. I am not registered for any political party (and never wanted to register) because I believe that listening to every political candidate—no matter what title they carry—is not only important, but vital to an educated society.
But as I have shared my beliefs and political views with my friends and classmates, people have begun to identify me as a right-wing conservative person.
So as I thought more about it, I realized that many of my views match with those of the Republican Party. I personally do not believe that women should have an abortion (my reasoning for this would take another 600 words, but that’s for a separate day). I believe a small government is a good government. I believe that immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally should either be made citizens, pay their taxes, or kindly leave until they are ready to do either (the background and reasoning for those beliefs are also for another time). I also don’t think the government should be controlling healthcare, paying college tuition or hiking up the minimum wage. All of these things, I realize now, would correctly place me in the ring-wing conservative group.
But believing any or all of these ideas does not make me ignorant, as this article, “An Open Letter to Right-Wing Millennials,” seems to suggest. I grew up in a Democratic home and went to a conservative Baptist high school. I’ve had agnostic and atheist friends, and I’ve had crazy (even crazier than me) conservative Christian friends.
Everything I’ve learned in biology, organic chemistry, anatomy, freedom of communication, social ethics, and other classes at my University have shaped my beliefs. And every person I’ve met, whether transgender, gay, straight, black, white, or Asian, has shaped my view of the world. And that view just so happens fall under the stereotypically conservative bracket.
Does that mean I absolutely love Donald Trump and Ted Cruz? Absolutely not. I will never, in a million years, understand how the horrendous, racist, uncensored crap that relentlessly floods from Donald Trump’s mouth could make him a suitable president of the United States. Sure, many conservatives do like this man, but you can’t just assume that all Republicans stand behind Donald Trump because of the party he chose to be a part of.
And likewise, you can’t assume that because a person is Republican, they are a racist looking to get rid of all Muslims and Mexicans. Every person is unique and no one fits perfectly into the Jell-O mold of society.
So, my dear left-wing friends, I would like to ask you to stop stereotyping all conservative millennials as ignorant idiots, because as I’m sure you can understand, there are thousands upon thousands of ignorant liberals as well. Unlike many of you believe, I think that Black Lives Matter, and that Muslims deserve to live in our country just like everyone else. I believe that people should not be turned away from a job because of their sexual orientation or religion, and that if a woman seeks birth control, she should have the right to buy it. I know that if we deported all illegal immigrants this very second, our country would fall to pieces, and that Planned Parenthood gives so many amazing resources to women that don’t involve abortion.
So please, I repeat—Dear liberals, understand that not all conservative millenials are ignorant and that a good number of millennial liberals are. Just because someone puts the puzzle of facts together to see a different picture does not make them stupid—It makes us different. And that is not something to be ashamed of.