Today I spent the day at the Greensboro Pride Festival.
And I’ve gotta tell you, I walked away from there with my faith in humanity restored.
I went there doing what I’ve been doing for the last couple of weeks: talking to strangers. Asking questions. Listening. Trying to understand what people are actually thinking and feeling instead of what somebody on television tells me they’re thinking and feeling.
And the conversations today were absolutely amazing.
People were open. They were funny. They were thoughtful. They were intelligent. They wanted to talk. They wanted to tell me about their lives.
And after talking to person after person, something hit me:
We’re just not that fucking different.
We’ve somehow created this enormous political industry dedicated to convincing us that we are.
Left. Right.
Black. White.
Gay. Straight.
Christian. Jewish. Muslim. Atheist.
Republican. Democrat.
Rural. Urban.
Young. Old.
We’ve got a label for everybody.
But when you actually sit down with somebody and ask them what they want out of life, nobody says:
“You know what I really want, John? I want to destroy America.”
They say they want a decent job.
They want to be able to afford a home.
They want their kids to be safe.
They want good schools.
They want healthcare when they get sick.
They want to fall in love.
They want somebody to love them back.
They want to laugh.
They want to grow old without being terrified that one hospital bill is going to wipe them out.
They want some dignity.
They want some peace.
They want to belong.
That’s pretty much it.
And standing there today, surrounded by thousands of people celebrating who they are, I kept thinking:
Why the hell have we made this so complicated?
Why does somebody’s sexuality have to become a political issue?
Why does somebody’s gender have to become a campaign strategy?
Why does the color of somebody’s skin still determine how some people see them?
Why do we keep taking human beings and turning them into political footballs?
Because once you turn somebody into a category, you don’t have to know them anymore.
You don’t have to talk to them.
You don’t have to understand them.
You just have to be
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