I have a vivid memory of the third grade, when one of my classmates broke down in tears after she found out her parents voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton. She was the only one in my class who we knew had Republican parents. On the playground, some kids were gossiping about how her parents had voted for Trump, while others were comforting her, telling her that it was going to be okay. I remember one of my friends telling me “her parents are Republican,” like “Republican” was some kind of bad word. 

I look back on this moment in shock. How could a class of 20 third graders understand the politics of that election? How could 8-year-olds understand the impact Trump would have on their lives? How did they all understand Clinton was the candidate to vote for?

The answer: our Bay Area liberal bubble. If someone in this area were to tell you they were Republican, specifically that they voted for Trump, chances are people would do a double take.

There’s no doubt that the nine counties of the Bay Area are solidly blue. Statistically,  presidential candidate Kamala Harris had overwhelming support in the election this year from the Bay Area. In San Francisco county, 81% of voters voted for Harris and only 15% voted for Trump. Solano county had the lowest Democratic turnout, with 60% still voting for Harris and 37% for Trump, according to the New York Times. 

Olivia Chiang is a freshman at Stanford University and founder of Let’s Talk Unite, a non-partisan, non-profit aimed at reducing political polarization in the Bay Area. Chiang said one reason polarization in our area occurs is due to the low political diversity we encounter in the Bay Area.

“Something that’s in our control is the people that we decide to reach out to and surround ourselves with,” Chiang said. “Following this election, it’s become really apparent how much affective and political polarization there is in the Bay Area. We see posts on social media saying, ‘if you’re a Trump supporter, don’t follow me. If you’re a Trump supporter, I could never be your friend.’ That’s self selection, and that’s a matter of having internalized biases and an inability to have conversations with people whom you disagree with.” 

Charlotte Kofman, a junior at Kehillah High School and executive director of Let’s Talk Unite, said she feels that this self selection makes it harder for people to talk to others with different ideologies, which continues to contribute to the problem.

“That [political homogeneity] reinforces the bubble and makes it more of an ‘us versus them’ situation,” Kofman said. “Especially because there’s people surrounded by other people with the same beliefs, the people who don’t have those same beliefs feel so different, especially in a place like this. The more that happens, the more a bubble forms, and the more unwilling people become to talk to the other side.” 

The effect of this polarization can be reflected in the treatment of the few Republicans in our area. Republicans get treated nothing short of how some far left leaning Democrats view them internally. 

Max Beach, a senior at Palo Alto High School, identifies as a Republican and Trump supporter, despite the fact that he was raised in the Bay Area by liberal parents. Beach agrees that the Bay Area is a bubble, and said he felt that he was isolated from the rest of the area’s beliefs because he disagreed with the commonly accepted political views. 

“I think oftentimes instead of having a polite discussion, it’s, ‘you’re evil, you have this view, and I just can’t talk to you,’” Beach said. “’That’s evil because of this and it’s hurting these people, it’s racist and it’s homophobic.’ So this is a driving factor for polarization because people just won’t talk because they view the other side as this evil monster.” 

It’s this depiction of the other party in an exceedingly negative way that continues to drive the two sides apart. 

Polarization, however, does not just affect the people who don’t hold the majority belief in an area, it also affects the way decisions are made and who people listen to. Polarization causes inefficient ways to solve problems, by disregarding the unpopular side, skewing a view to the more supported side in an area. This prevents people from reaching compromises that are critical for finding solutions to issues. Additionally, polarization divides communities, causing alienation of certain opinions and people. It disregards protecting political minorities, which has been an important aspect of founding American ideals. Because who are we if not everyone? Don’t we live in a democracy?   

I also believe that this 2024 election and ever since the 2016 election when Trump entered the political picture, has contributed to political polarization on an extreme level. I feel as though moral beliefs have been tied more and more into politics, where people either ignore the bigger picture of a candidate, or only focus on a specific issue that they feel strongly about. For example, Trump has proven sexual assault allegations and 34 felony convictions, according to NPR, but many are able to ignore this and for their political, economic and social reasons, and decide to vote Trump. Others choose to vote Trump based on a specific issue such as taxes or foreign policy.  

I’ll admit, I grew up believing that the Republican party was “bad.” I grew up believing that if a Republican got elected, our world was going to crumble. But as I grew older, I realized this is untrue. The liberal bubble we live in is a binary perspective, it feels black and white — or in this case, blue and red. You are either Democrat or Republican. You are either good or bad. Because of this, I feel like I never got to learn the other side. 

 I am a South Korean, Chinese and American woman. I come from an immigrant parents on both sides of my family. I consider myself well-educated on Trump’s economic policies, specifically his China tariffs. Lastly, I’ve heard Trump’s rhetoric on the COVID-19 virus regarding it as the “China virus,” according to the New York Times. For those reasons, I am not a Trump supporter. However, I’ve come to learn that whatever my ideology is, the person on the other side of the political spectrum is just another human. The reasons I support a specific side or candidate may not be the same reason why someone else would support the opposing side, but I’m not going to point fingers and tell them why they’re wrong in an effort to change their mind. Instead, I will simply listen.

I learned as a third grader, that whenever there is a problem, you must use teamwork to solve it. Ignoring others’ opinions will only cause you more trouble. This third grade work ethic must be applied to politics and our daily lives. You must listen to the other side, even if you disagree. Painting your opponent as a red devil does no good. As students and any role that you may fulfill in life, it is always important to listen to others. I am still going to hold true to my political beliefs and you should too, but that does not make anyone else’s beliefs any less important or evil. This is the way we as a community can reach compromise. 

The advice of one of the most influential people to date, founding father and President George Washington, cautioned against the dangers of political parties in his farewell address, published in 1796. He warned that political factions could lead to division, conflict and ultimately the breaking of national unity. Taking the advice of Washington, it shouldn’t be “us” and “them.” It’s “we,” “we the people.”