Due to studies, I am not able to keep up with politics as much as I wish I could. One thing I’ve noticed with the current GOP debates is that the worst in people are coming out. 

For me, politicians and the people are on two different spheres. The term, “It’s just politics” has always bothered me. Why is it just politics? Shouldn’t us, as a people, try to improve America?

I remember when President Barack Obama was first elected to office. I was living in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I was sad and extremely angry at the same time to see how much racism still exists in our country. What was worse, for the town I was living in, the safest place for a black person after that announcement was to stay in their home. Way to go America and showing that white privilege still exists, insert extreme sarcasm.

Today, it seems much worse. I am not going to focus on the politicians in this opinion. My personal thoughts are that the person most likely to become President will ruin the country even more. 

This election is bringing out the worst in people. Earlier this year, Senator Bernie Sanders had protestors for Black Lives Matters shut down his event in Seattle. Candidate Donald Trump went as far as having to cancel his rally in Chicago due to violent acts of protestors. These are only a few examples I have heard of. 

I have also seen argument galore on social media. People that were friends were deleting each other because of the intense arguments over who would make a good president. Even worse, I’ve seen posts say, “You should kill yourself if you vote for Trump” or, “Those who support Sanders are the ones ruining America.”

When did we, as Americans, get so low that we are telling people they should kill themselves if they disagree with our political choices?

We, as voters, should find mutual respect for one another. We need to start being kind to one another. Stop this racism, slander and violence. The politicians are already name-calling each other and this election marks the most extreme jibes. Let us show the presidential candidates that the people can act more polite than they can during debates.

Though it may be impossible to see, we the people have a voice that needs to be heard by the government. But first, we must prove that we as a people are better than the presidential candidates. 

I will leave on a quote by one person in history who believed that the people had a voice over politicians. A quote that Martin Luther King Jr. would repeat. Let us stand together as we near the Presidential election that will take place in November and show the world that we can come together without ruining our country, even when we don’t agree on who should take office.

“Let us not be afraid to help each other-let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us,” said Franklin D. Roosevelt on Jul. 8, 1938 in an address at Marietta, Ohio. “The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and Senators and Congressmen and government officials but the voters of this country.”