By: Lanly Nguyen
Political parties have played a huge role in American history and lives, but with increasing partisanship and divide rising between Democrats and Republicans, there seems to be a never-ending fight emerging throughout the US.
This rings true for many conservatives in the Bay Area, including Oksana Mccord, a PAC Treasurer in a group called Bay Area Republican Women, a group that strives to promote conservative ideals in the most liberal state in the country, California.
“It’s definitely frustrating at times, to hide the fact that you’re a Republican and having to tell others that you’re democrat just to avoid getting fired or shunned. Most of us are genuinely kind, respectful, and open to other demographics; not all of us fit the stereotype,” says Mccord.
And she's right; most Democrats or Republicans don’t always fall into their respective stereotypes, as seen through the results of a study published in The Journal of Politics by Douglas Ahler and Gaurav Sood.
“Blacks made up about a quarter of the Democratic Party, but Republicans estimated the share at 46 percent. Republicans thought 38 percent of Democrats were gay, lesbian or bisexual, while the actual number was about 6 percent. Democrats estimated that 44 percent of Republicans make more than $250,000 a year. The actual share was 2 percent,” says Ahler.
Even if this study shows how judging someone based solely on the political party can be flawed, there is still a lingering stereotype towards Republicans in the Bay Area.
“I feel like most Republicans as racist, uneducated, not open to any sort of change because of ignorance, and quickly disregard opinions or statements that do not reflect their values,” says Phillips Nguyen, a sophomore at San Jose State University.
William Butchko, a government teacher at YB also says, “I tend to think of them as either religious or with a view of being more self-reliant.”
Mccord doesn’t just feel this pressure when she’s out in public, it also takes a toll on her work life here in the Bay Area.
“Having a white color job such as accounting involves socializing, and sometimes, when I am completely honest and tell them I’m a conservative, their faces and emotions completely change, leaving me confused about what I did wrong when I didn’t do anything,” says Mccord.
Mccord also says, “I respect others as much as I can, whether or not they’re also a conservative, but all I ask is respect given back to me, as any other human deserves.”
Being a conservative myself, I know exactly how it feels when people negatively assume what kind of personality, beliefs, and values I have based only on political affiliation.
Just as Oksana Mccord experienced, I also get shunned upon and shamed for being a “Donald Trump” supporter-ironic considering I don’t support him at all.
While republicans feel heavily discriminated against in the Bay Area, democrats also feel misjudged by republicans.
Butchko says that a misconception republicans have is, “That Democrats are not fiscally conservative. Based on the record of the last 30 years, while Democrats have fought to expand what the government does for us, they have done so in a responsible manner, but Republicans have run up large deficits every time they have power. The problem is that while they are irresponsible, they also are not providing any material benefit.”
“Some misconceptions republicans have about liberals is that all of them want to legalize everything and think that we are willing to give money to anyone, even commenting that we are like ‘communists’,” says Phillips.
Republicans are notorious for being politically reserved and are highly judgmental against others who aren’t in their club, but isn’t there an extremist democratic view as well?
Clearly, each side has its extremes but though political parties are used to inform Americans about policies, it seems to be doing the opposite.
Phillips is aware of the effect of political parties and believes that this, “...distracts us basically, from the issues we face as a country. This is because if we keep talking about political parties, we aren’t dealing with the issues that really matter, and this especially delays us from solving any issues.”
He also says, “I believe that Americans are so fixated on political parties because we were trained to think a certain way about politics, that we are limited to only two sides when it comes to policies and beliefs. This isn’t true to real life at all as most people fall into the gray area, where it isn’t exactly polarized.”
It isn’t new to see disagreements between the two parties, but recent studies show how it’s gotten to the point where each party views the other as threatening.
According to the Pew Research Center, “This kind of hostility toward the opposing party is strongly related to political participation and activism. For example, 54% of Republicans and 46% of Democrats who have made campaign donations in the past two years describe the other political party as a threat to the nation. In other words, those who arguably have the greatest impact on politics are most likely to have strongly negative feelings toward the opposing party.”
While there are clear disparities between republicans and democrats, we should all do our part by respecting others.
So the question isn’t about which political party is better, it’s more about what should we do to set aside our differences as a country and start accepting other people’s opinions, whether or not you agree with it, to get things done.
Political parties have played a huge role in American history and lives, but with increasing partisanship and divide rising between Democrats and Republicans, there seems to be a never-ending fight emerging throughout the US.
This rings true for many conservatives in the Bay Area, including Oksana Mccord, a PAC Treasurer in a group called Bay Area Republican Women, a group that strives to promote conservative ideals in the most liberal state in the country, California.
“It’s definitely frustrating at times, to hide the fact that you’re a Republican and having to tell others that you’re democrat just to avoid getting fired or shunned. Most of us are genuinely kind, respectful, and open to other demographics; not all of us fit the stereotype,” says Mccord.
And she's right; most Democrats or Republicans don’t always fall into their respective stereotypes, as seen through the results of a study published in The Journal of Politics by Douglas Ahler and Gaurav Sood.
“Blacks made up about a quarter of the Democratic Party, but Republicans estimated the share at 46 percent. Republicans thought 38 percent of Democrats were gay, lesbian or bisexual, while the actual number was about 6 percent. Democrats estimated that 44 percent of Republicans make more than $250,000 a year. The actual share was 2 percent,” says Ahler.
Even if this study shows how judging someone based solely on the political party can be flawed, there is still a lingering stereotype towards Republicans in the Bay Area.
“I feel like most Republicans as racist, uneducated, not open to any sort of change because of ignorance, and quickly disregard opinions or statements that do not reflect their values,” says Phillips Nguyen, a sophomore at San Jose State University.
William Butchko, a government teacher at YB also says, “I tend to think of them as either religious or with a view of being more self-reliant.”
Mccord doesn’t just feel this pressure when she’s out in public, it also takes a toll on her work life here in the Bay Area.
“Having a white color job such as accounting involves socializing, and sometimes, when I am completely honest and tell them I’m a conservative, their faces and emotions completely change, leaving me confused about what I did wrong when I didn’t do anything,” says Mccord.
Mccord also says, “I respect others as much as I can, whether or not they’re also a conservative, but all I ask is respect given back to me, as any other human deserves.”
Being a conservative myself, I know exactly how it feels when people negatively assume what kind of personality, beliefs, and values I have based only on political affiliation.
Just as Oksana Mccord experienced, I also get shunned upon and shamed for being a “Donald Trump” supporter-ironic considering I don’t support him at all.
While republicans feel heavily discriminated against in the Bay Area, democrats also feel misjudged by republicans.
Butchko says that a misconception republicans have is, “That Democrats are not fiscally conservative. Based on the record of the last 30 years, while Democrats have fought to expand what the government does for us, they have done so in a responsible manner, but Republicans have run up large deficits every time they have power. The problem is that while they are irresponsible, they also are not providing any material benefit.”
“Some misconceptions republicans have about liberals is that all of them want to legalize everything and think that we are willing to give money to anyone, even commenting that we are like ‘communists’,” says Phillips.
Republicans are notorious for being politically reserved and are highly judgmental against others who aren’t in their club, but isn’t there an extremist democratic view as well?
Clearly, each side has its extremes but though political parties are used to inform Americans about policies, it seems to be doing the opposite.
Phillips is aware of the effect of political parties and believes that this, “...distracts us basically, from the issues we face as a country. This is because if we keep talking about political parties, we aren’t dealing with the issues that really matter, and this especially delays us from solving any issues.”
He also says, “I believe that Americans are so fixated on political parties because we were trained to think a certain way about politics, that we are limited to only two sides when it comes to policies and beliefs. This isn’t true to real life at all as most people fall into the gray area, where it isn’t exactly polarized.”
It isn’t new to see disagreements between the two parties, but recent studies show how it’s gotten to the point where each party views the other as threatening.
According to the Pew Research Center, “This kind of hostility toward the opposing party is strongly related to political participation and activism. For example, 54% of Republicans and 46% of Democrats who have made campaign donations in the past two years describe the other political party as a threat to the nation. In other words, those who arguably have the greatest impact on politics are most likely to have strongly negative feelings toward the opposing party.”
While there are clear disparities between republicans and democrats, we should all do our part by respecting others.
So the question isn’t about which political party is better, it’s more about what should we do to set aside our differences as a country and start accepting other people’s opinions, whether or not you agree with it, to get things done.