Jacqueline Wallace | THE RIDER
What a year it has been. I still remember going to a pool party during spring break shortly before coronavirus cases emerged in the Rio Grande Valley. I did not get to say goodbye to some of my friends who flew back home after the university moved to online instruction. That was back in March, and here we are in November. So many of us are grieving the losses of loved ones who we never expected would leave so soon.
Who knew what started out as a nationwide toilet paper crisis, mask mandates across the world and seniors not being able to walk at graduation, would take a morbid turn for the worse. George Floyd dying at the hands of a police officer, cities and forests in flames, COVID-19 cases skyrocketing, it felt as though the country had reached a state of complete chaos. The U.S. was divided during a time when it needed to be united.
In more recent months, this division tainted friendships, families, schools, churches, businesses, media, you name it. Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris began their campaign against Donald Trump, Democrats and Republicans have protracted their claws mercilessly. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were battlegrounds for the two parties. I could not scroll through my feed without seeing political squabbles.
Now, I say, “Thank God it is over.”
I could not take much more hatred being spewed from both sides. 2020 was bad enough. There was no need to lose our humanity over politics. Now that Joe Biden has been announced the president-elect, I feel it is time to move on.
I hope we can come back to a place of love and compassion, despite which candidate our neighbor voted for. I want to see people building their communities, not burning them down. I pray that peace will be restored to the nation, and we can learn to respect opposing opinions and show grace to those who do not deserve it. It is time to move forward and break the barriers of 2020 together.
