United we stand, divided we fall.

January 6, 2021, a mob of people stormed the capitol building. This was in response to the announcment that Joe Biden will be our next President. Our nation is being split in two and we need to come together before our nation completely divides. 

All across America, republicans and democrats alike are watching extremists tear our country apart. We are giving the loudest voices to the most extreme people. We are allowing extreme and violent people to represent our nation and it needs to stop. At this point, we are not shocked that these things are happening just disappointed. “My initial reaction was disappointment, we are living through historical events right now with a pandemic and now another civil war it seems,” said senior Kameron Mullins. 

We need to let the majority of people represent what our political parties stand for, not these extremists that believe breaking into the capitol is okay. These are not the people that need to be representing us as a nation. “The people who broke into the capitol were extremists and domestic terrorists. They do not represent the republican party. We allow ourselves to negatively look at the extremists on each side without looking at each party as a whole without the extremists,” said sophomore Jada Williams. 

We are living in a day and age where we have more access to information and more opportunities to voice our opinions than ever before and instead of using this opportunity to come together as a nation and expand on the very foundation that our country was built on, we are using it to tear each other down. People would rather shame others for having a different perspective than embrace the fact that we live in a place where these differences can be expressed and celebrated. 

The raid on our capital is a clear example of the lack of respect that we have for one another. Everyone is so focused on being “in the right” that we forget that there is no right or wrong side. There was a time that humans showed basic respect for each other despite differing political views. If we could all give basic respect to each other then maybe our country wouldn’t be so divided. “As a Trump supporter, I will show everyone, regardless of political views, an equal amount of respect,” said sophomore Carl Miller.  

We need to come together to stop this division. Our nation was built on unity and in order for us to survive, we need to keep that same unity and pride that our forefathers felt. If we can stop the violence and stop the hatred then maybe we will see fewer events where we allow people to invade our capitol and show blatant disrespect to our country and all of us who live here. 

Please take the time to educate yourself on what is going on in our country and help spread awareness about the division we are facing.