I Was Raised Blue
I was raised blue.
When I was growing up, my mom was a die hard Democrat. Or so I thought she was. She was always adamant about instilling tolerance in us. We were taught from an early age about racism, anti-semitism, gender bias, and homophobia. My dad never really spoke about politics, but I always knew that if any derogatory words came out of my mouth towards a group of people based on their skin, religion, etc. I would have been grounded for life.
As I got older, I no longer identified as a “Democrat.” I didn’t identify as a Republican either. I joined the independent thinkers club. Nowadays, my brother and I love to get my mom fired up in a good political debate, and we don’t always agree.
Now that I’m older I realize I wasn’t raised blue, or as a Democrat. My mom’s political beliefs were never what it was about. I was raised to have compassion and respect for other human beings. Human beings who don’t look like me, or pray like me, identify like me or whatever else.
Human decency and respect should be bipartisan. My God, I hope we can agree on that.
From someone who is neither left or right, I am looking forward to the peaceful transition of power; a tenant of this free country, one that I love fiercely. I am looking forward to a brighter future for all Americans.
This isn’t about left or right. It’s about the world we want to leave behind for our kids. If your candidate won, don’t get lazy. There’s work to do. If your candidate lost, don’t get lazy. There’s work to do. The work is not against one another. There is only one team and that’s AMERICA. If your energy is spent on belittling “the other side,” you’ve already lost.
Phoenix Matarazzo 
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