America is no stranger to political violence. It has thrived in our country since even before its creation. From labor riots to politically motivated assassinations, blood and politics have gone together. Its causes, however, have varied. For example, during the civil rights era, politically motivated riots, beatings, bombings and assassinations were common in the struggle for equality. This is not the case now.
During a Donald Trump rally last Friday, violence erupted between protestors and attendees in and around the venue. While the question of who instigated the violence remains unanswered, the situation is much more serious than a simple blame game. The fact that we as Americans descended so rapidly and willingly into violence against those of an opposing political mindset says much about both the current state of the partisanship and animosity that has become our American reality.
Perhaps it’s that we are afraid of what the future stands to bring; 65 percent of Americans feel that we, as a country, are moving in the wrong direction. Of millennials, 48 percent feel that the American Dream is dead. More and more Americans feel that not only is there no longer plenty of opportunity to get ahead, but also that their children will not have better lives than they did. Fear and anguish regarding the future and the state of America has proliferated large segments of society. From fear stems distrust.
This distrust is ever-present in the nature of the increasing partisanship in this country. The Pew Research Center has found that the American public is more divided now, along political lines, than any other time in our recent history. Much of the media on both sides has become a clear marker of this schism. Sites such as Breitbart and The Blaze are written exclusively for hardline conservatives; Slate and The Huffington Post do the same for die-hard liberals. Americans have progressively become more polarized. Given the new American fear of our future, it’s unsurprising that both sides want to blame each other for what they perceive as the wrong direction they believe our country is going in. From distrust stems hate.
Not only are Americans on both sides of the aisle growing further and further apart, but animosity is growing with the distance. Not only do both sides harbor increasingly unfavorable opinions of each other, many downright hate the other side. Of Democrats, 27 percent see Republicans as a threat to the nation’s wellbeing. Of Republicans, 36 percent see Democrats as that same threat. If the data doesn’t convince you, just listen to the language of politicians. Ted Cruz believes that "there is a liberal fascism that is going after Christian believers." Hillary Clinton says that the Republicans are the enemy she is most proud of making during her political career. From hate stems violence.
With that understanding, perhaps the violence we’ve witnessed at several Donald Trump rallies seems less surprising and more inevitable. I don’t blame Trump for all of the violence, as many have seen fit to do. Yes, he has said that he’d like to punch a protester in the face and that protesters at rallies used to be “carried out on stretchers,” but he is not the root of the problem. Trump’s language would not spark cheers if people didn’t already share a similar opinion.
Violence between the various sides is not a product of Trump, but of the fear, distrust, and hate both sides bring to the table. We as Americans are facing one of the greatest tests of our generation. Can we reconcile our differences or will we continue to divide ourselves? We should remember that even if we hate the other side and feel that they have no right to decide the fate of the country, we are Americans, not liberals or conservatives.