To the editor,

I take issue with the way conservative ideologies were recently portrayed in two columns recently written by Paul Rutecki for The Observer. Case Western Reserve University does embrace ideological diversity, just not ideologies that actively call for the discrimination and oppression of others. Contemplate why our peers rage against the current administration. The focus on trade deals while others are worried that they won’t be able to get the health care they need to thrive is tasteless. Are trade and taxes really more important than the life, liberty and happiness of fellow Americans?
It is from a place of incredible privilege that opponents can condemn people’s complaints when this administration extols white nationalism and wants to draw back LGBTQ+ rights. Rises in hate crimes—such as the attack on a pair of Indian immigrants where their attacker screamed “get out of my country”—are the fallout of this administration. Even if Attorney General Jeff Sessions is, as you claim, “not a racist” (although the NAACP, as one of the first and largest organizations fighting racism, are not “some people” and understand what racism looks like more than you or I), he actively supports an administration that has made America racist again. This is why liberals persist to fight both the Trump administration and its supporters. White people have the luxury to be comfortable in a nation where nearly every institution where created for their benefit. Non-white, non-straight, non-men do not have this advantage.
Acceptance of basic humanity is at stake now. General Sessions has supported the rollback of policies meant to protect trans people’s rights. Even freedom of religion is at danger for everyone except Christians. The nation has recently faced a rise in hate crimes targeting Muslim and Jewish people, including the defacement of Jewish graves. Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to restrict people’s rights to assembly and of free speech in response to protesters, the right that authors of opinion pieces exercise by writing in The Observer.
I do not deny others their right to voice their opinion, however I ask that they consider what their support of this administration means to those who hear or read their words.
Think about why the majority of every minority group—women, people of color, LGBTQ+—voted for a different candidate. Recognize that by focusing on trade policy and a few good actions, you raise money over the comfort and security of individuals in their own bodies.
People have the right to tell liberals to fall silent and give bigotry a chance, but do not wonder why when we rise and roar back even louder than before.
Monica Windholtz