Good Neighbors: The Democracy of Everyday Life in America was published earlier this year. Written by Harvard Political Science professor Nancy Rosenblum, the book discusses two types of democracy. There is the political one, where we function as citizens, and a “democracy of everyday life,” in which we operate as neighbors.
Rosenblum believes the political democracy functions in the abstract, with words like conservative or progressive or libertarian. Our day-to-day interactions with neighbors, however, hinge on concrete acts. Will they collect our mail when we aren’t home? Does our barking dog disturb the people upstairs?
In the day-to-day world we ignore much that we might not ordinarily like in the political world. Thus, when I was working the polls at the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club, I got on quite well with my Republican counterparts Roger, Kenny, and Robert. We were civil to each other and found we had quite a bit in common.
Given that, why do I feel such hostility to my neighbors who had Trump signs in their lawns? Why can’t we all get along?
It is because this election was different. When I saw thousands of people at rallies chanting “Lock her up,” that was my candidate they were chanting about. When I saw Trump calling for mass deportations, some of my former students who have lived in the U.S. since childhood will be rounded up and sent to a country they can’t remember. When I saw Trump call for punishing women who get abortions, that affects my friends. When I saw Trump proudly accepting support from racists, I can’t forgive that.
I will, of course, continue to talk to my relatives and neighbors who supported Trump. What I cannot do is look upon them in the same way. To me politics is not something I do on election day. I try to live my politics, and I assume that Trump supporters do as well. I can’t get past that.
I found that some people and even family were racist. Its hard to forgive and forget that.
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