This election has been unnecessarily long and painful. It has been a crazy ride for not only Americans but nearly the whole world as they watched. As with almost anything involving politics, there was a lot of disagreement and fighting. But this election, I noticed a lot of people being shamed for ending relationships and friendships. A specific phrase I keep hearing is, “You shouldn’t stop talking to someone just because of their political views.” And while I agree to an extent, I have to make something very clear.

For the last four years, President Trump has made people of color (POC) and minorities in America fear for their rights. Trump has been caught on many occasions openly admitting to not supporting the LGBTQ+ community. He even called people protesting for justice for George Floyd “thugs” and has made several degrading comments and jokes about women and their bodies. In an interview conducted by CBS news, he was asked, “Why are African Americans still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country?” He replied with, “And so are white people… What a terrible question to ask.” He nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, who served on a board for a school that enforced policies that openly discriminated against LGBTQ+ people. In late 2015, he mocked Serge Kovaleski, a reporter who has arthrogryposis, which is a condition that affects the joints and causes joint contractures.

So, when someone doesn’t want to associate themselves with a Trump supporter, it is much more than politics. They fear for their own rights, or the rights of others, and they don’t support the racism, ableism, and bigotry that President Trump has stood for.