And all of this has got me thinking about what people deem as acceptable nowadays. Let me explain. Roseanne Barr's tweet was absolutely, unequivocally offensive, inappropriate and unacceptable. Racism is a disgusting problem that is persisting for some reason in this country and it should not be tolerated. I applaud ABC for taking a stand and saying that they will not stand for her racism on their network. Now that being said, I am someone that absolutely abhors the "C" word as well. I have never said it in my life and I doubt that I ever will. I find it demeaning, sexist and disgusting. Do I find it as offensive as Roseanne's tweet? No because Roseanne's tweet was racist. There is a huge difference between racism and the use of the "C" word.
Everyone knows that Americans have the right to free speech. It's one of our most precious and treasured guaranteed rights. But what people don't seem to realize is that just because you have the right to say whatever you think doesn't mean that you don't have to face the consequences of what you said. Social media can be a wonderful thing but there are some people that use social media as a platform to belittle others and to spread their opinions as truth, regardless of whether or not what they're saying is offensive or just flat out rude. I wanna know what happened to the golden rule. What happened to, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all"?
I am not someone that discusses politics or religion with people. I never try to get people to see things the way that I do. You know why? Because I believe in your right to believe whatever you want to believe. Just because you don't believe what I believe doesn't mean that you're wrong. America is built on the idea that we can all be different and still coexist. But people have seemed to forget about that recently.
This isn't something that I typically discuss with people but I am a democrat. I'm not embarrassed by it at all. It's just not something that I wear on my sleeve and use to define me. But I can't tell you how many times I've logged onto Facebook and seen many of my republican friends post statuses or memes about how stupid democrats are. (That is not to say that I've never seen my democrat friends do the same thing to republicans. This is just my personal experience from my point of view.) I have had to delete so many people because I was tired of logging onto Facebook and being insulted by people that I thought were my friends.
Social media is supposed to be used to connect with other people and to share your life. It was not created as a way for people to force their agendas down peoples' throats. It has become such a negative part of peoples' lives that I wonder why people even bother to use it anymore. I am so tired of people going on social media and posting things that belittle or insult other people. Yes, as an American you do have the right to say or believe whatever you want. But you know what? You don't have the right to attack someone else's beliefs just because they are different than yours.
Let me give you an example. I am not a gun owner. I probably will never own a gun. I don't care to. But I respect your second amendment rights. If someone posted on Facebook that they bought a gun, I would not comment rude comments just because they did something that I wouldn't do. But I know plenty of people that would do that and that disheartens me. We have gotten away from being able to agree to disagree. There have been many times when I've disagreed with someone over something or I thought that a person was being an idiot. And you know what? I kept my mouth shut. Just because you can say what you want, doesn't mean that you should. Negative language and attacks on other peoples' beliefs say more about you than it ever will about the other people.
I want to get to a place where people remember how to agree to disagree. Where people understand that your opinion is not a fact. Where people understand that racism and discrimination of any kind are unacceptable. Where people understand that you don't need to be threatened by someone else's beliefs. Where people don't care about political parties but instead, care more about the issues. And a place where people understand that it's okay to stand up for what you believe in, but that you don't need to do it by putting down others. I've never had to unscrew another person's lightbulb to make my own shine. The same should go for everyone else.
So, in short, I want to get back to a place where people have more manners and respect for other people, regardless of their beliefs. Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing but it does not give you an excuse to make other people feel invalidated. I hear people say all the time that people aren't respectful anymore and that things were better in the old days. If that's really how it is, then why don't we get back to that place? And no day is better than today.
-Chelsea
