I Can’t Afford To Be Apolitical

I can’t lie: I’m annoyed any time someone says “our country is so divided now.” Not only has our country always been divided, but we can’t afford to be silent on issues as they arise. Being politically neutral is not an option.

Yet people lament political differences tearing friendships apart or destroying families. Some people opt for not talking or getting involved in politics to avoid this. But that’s not something that I – and many others like me – can afford.

If political beliefs didn’t focus on issues like identities, things we can’t change, maybe my opinion would differ. But they do focus on identity, so I can’t ignore them.

Whether I like it or not, my very existence is political. 

I’m bisexual, Black, and female. Too often, politicians try to restrict rights based on my very existence . Some want to get rid of the few protections we have for the LGBTQIA+ community. Others let police brutally continue to disproportionately affect Black people. And we still have a problem with violence against women that not enough people have addressed. All these things affect me personally, so I can’t afford to not care about politics or be political myself.

And I’m not the only one. So many of my friends, family, and strangers experience the same thing. Several immigrants worry about ICE arresting or killing them. There is an alarmingly high rate of murder against trans people. I could go on and give more examples – that’s how broad these issues are.

If political differences didn’t threaten someone’s right to exist, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Hell, I wouldn’t be writing this article if that was the case. I didn’t like having to unfriend people who supported Trump, nor feeling betrayed by people I thought cared about me supporting politicians and policies that threatend people who are simply different. No one’s identity should be a matter of political opinion, but it is. That is a sad truth, but it’s not one we can ignore. 

If you hate identity politics, consider why people discuss the issue in the first place. It’s not like a gay person wanted to rally for their right to marry, but they had to. As a Black person, I can tell you how exhausting it is to fight for our very right to existence without fear of violence or death. It’s exhausting that anyone has to fight for their right to simply live, yet we do.

I didn’t want to get into politics, and until I turned 18, I largely stayed away from it. But then Trump ran for president, and people listened and voted for his dangerous rhetoric and policies. That was the defining moment that I realized politics do affect me, and I can’t afford to be apolitical.

Like me, I don’t expect everyone to know how important politics are, especially when they’re younger. But if that’s the case, then you don’t get to tell someone else that they’re overreacting. You don’t get to tell them to stop talking about politics and complaining when they are making valid points. 

It’s a privilege to be apolitical – one that I can’t afford.

I care about the ones around me and people as a whole. And I’d like to think that most people feel the same way. So that means we have to acknowledge and push back against policies that hurt people, even if they don’t hurt you, personally. 

We need empathy, now more than ever. The unifying belief among us shouldn’t be about embracing all political beliefs, but embracing humanity. And every person deserves dignity, respect, and the right to live. It’s our duty to speak out against injustices when we see them. 

Just like you wouldn’t tell a doctor how to treat a condition, you can’t tell someone who’s been marginalized that politics don’t affect them. Whether we like it or not, politics affect our very livelihood. And we always have a say in what affects our life.

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