The Importance of Alternative Perspectives
I love having opinions on things. I also love sharing my opinions with other people, friends, family, and strangers alike. Yet when it comes to hearing dissenting viewpoints, things get a lot messier. Until recently, hearing the other side of the story made me tense up, ignore it, or perhaps even become dismissive.
Earlier this year, I was in an Uber with a close friend of mine making conversation with the driver. Unfortunately, our discussion shifted to politics, as (too) many conversations do these days. The driver turned out to be an avid Donald Trump supporter and began listing the reasons why Trump would be a good president. My response was to shut down. I wasn’t going to argue; I was in his car. I wasn’t going to validate his opinions; I despise Donald Trump. So I bit my tongue, looked out the window, and actively ignored the remainder of the conversation.
After getting out of the car, my friend joked, “wow, Andrew, you really can’t listen to viewpoints at odds with your own.” At first, I got a little defensive. I thought I was open-minded and tolerant. I am all for taking constructive criticism, but this was difficult for me to stomach. I pride myself on being friends with a wide array of individuals across socioeconomic status, race, religion, hometown, and, yes, political views. But just like the people who claim they ‘don’t have a racist bone in their body’ because they have a couple friends of other races or ethnicities, me having friends of many diverse backgrounds doesn’t immunize me from being closed-minded.
In my mind, liberalism is supposed to be about accepting differences, seeking to understand others, and pursuing equality for all. Yet many liberal individuals have a hard time listening to alternative political perspectives. I agree that a number of conservative policies (or what are represented as such) are bigoted, but we could at least try to understand why before calling it baseless prejudice.
Take the travel ban, for instance. Before I go any further, I want to make clear that I am vehemently against the policy. Not only does it contradict the United States’ perceived image of a land of great opportunity fueled by immigrants throughout history, but it directly impacts dear friends of mine as well. That said, many Americans didn’t grow up with the perspective I did.
Earlier in the Summer, I got a chance to discuss the ban with a self-declared Republican from the South. Unlike the conversation in the Uber ride a few months earlier, this time I was ready to listen. I explained to the southerner that I wanted to understand the mentality behind the ban. And although I made it clear that I was against it, I wanted them to feel comfortable sharing. Ultimately, this proved to be the most interesting political dialogue I’ve ever managed to maintain with a person with political views vastly different from my own.
They explained that over the past decade, the suburbs of Atlanta have become home for a large number of immigrants, who have begun opening local businesses, attending local schools, and securing local jobs. In response, numerous longtime businesses were ousted by new immigrant businesses and locals increasingly struggled to find employment due to the influx of immigrant hires (or at least this was their perspective). The southerner even felt personally impacted when they were not accepted their state university in favor of immigrant classmates, despite having a very strong application and connections. For them, it was not about race or ethnicity; if a bunch of white New Yorkers showed up in the suburbs of Atlanta and started taking opportunities away from locals, the community would feel equally as threatened.
Although my stance against the ban remained unchanged, I found this new perspective eye-opening. I also was proud of myself; I didn’t cut them off, I didn’t attack them, and I didn’t avoid the conversation. I actively engaged and broadened my understanding of attitudes towards the ban. In my opinion, immigrants have every right to pursue any location, education, or profession they would like, but I also understand why locals are getting defensive when their opportunities are being negatively impacted.
Ultimately, the message I want to send is to all of my strong-minded liberal friends out there is: I get that you have an opinion that you deeply believe in, and I understand why less ‘progressive’ stances bother you -- they bother me, too. Yet your frustration is not what concerns me, it is your response to that frustration. I am tired of hearing Republicans complain about how liberals refuse to engage in dialogue, because they are often right. In a democracy, we are allowed to disagree. However, to dismiss opinions entirely is problematic, and that is the culture I fear we’ve created.