When is it right to disagree? Navigating the balance of standing up for all human rights

To us, it seems like the whole year has been leading to next Tuesday. From initiatives like “Disagreeing Better” to the massive amounts of communication from the school and different clubs around each campus, it is no surprise that this election is big. In such a polarizing time, it is important to remember that we are all students and humans, and we all must continue to attend class, eat and live together, no matter what the result is. Because of this, we wanted to remind everyone how important it is to be respectful of others’ opinions, even when they differ from our own. But, on the other hand, it can be exhausting to fight off political views that are simply hateful. It’s difficult to give others grace when it’s clear they wouldn’t do the same for us or the people we love.

With the rise of “cancel” or “woke” culture, there has been great pushback from the right. This defensiveness is often not based in reality, as these terms have been given new definitions as a way to lessen guilt in the perpetrators of harm. As we’ve seen in our recent political history, there are those that admire seeing a leader that breaks past boundaries and is able to “say it how it is.” These same leaders, however, do not take kindly to criticism and go straight into a defensive mode. When we see our leaders engaged with derogatory phrases and proposed policies that go after the fundamental rights of others, we are not being “snowflakes” when we feel upset.

It’s one thing to disagree about something like economics. That’s something that can be talked through, something that can be disagreed about in a discourse that doesn’t disparage other people. Something we ought not to “disagree better” about is people’s autonomy. Autonomy is a large focus of this election; whether it’s reproductive rights, Indigenous rights, climate justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, or the right to live on our own terms in the way that’s best for us. People are crying out in search of respect and safety. Are we supposed to “disagree better” until we are given these basic wants?

What we should want as a society is for harm inflicted on others to cease. This means that some people truly need to look internally, but some of us need to continue living our lives without the worry that ourselves and/or our loved ones will be senselessly hurt by the words and actions of others.

In order to have a discussion at all, the solution is not to disagree better but for hate to be examined and ultimately shut down. If the rights of human and non-human beings are not respected, how can a conversation even begin? This internalized reflection and growth needs to happen in a select group of people, and we’re tired of it being put on all of us—this is why it’s hard to just learn to disagree. It’s not about trivial matters—lives are at stake.

As time has gone on, the two sides of the political spectrum have grown further and further apart, and tensions have grown whenever politics are brought up.

Having a well-informed opinion is best, it is what we are supposed to do as civically involved Americans, but that does not mean we have to spend all our time worrying about what others think and how they view the world.

We are all informed by our varying life experiences, and that leads to vastly different ideas, or reasoning for ideas, on a variety of topics. To keep our campus environment feeling open and welcoming to all, it is important to remember that one heated conversation won’t likely change an opinion. Still, we can all do our part by planting seeds in our communities so that, one day, we’ll see the growth.