The 2020 election was particularly tumultuous and made the title “The United States of America” seem quite ironic. What we showed in the past few months, actually, the past four years and change, was not united. My Grandma was born in 1944, so she has lived through lots of major events in our nation’s history. She has been a voter since the first presidential election she was eligible to vote, which was 1964. I recently asked her if what was happening in our country is normal and happens every few election cycles; she replied with a light giggle and said “no, this is definitely not normal.” Being that the 2016 election was the first time I really paid attention to politics, and the 2020 election was the first one I could vote in, I thought that the extreme political polarization that our country has been experiencing is normal, but apparently it is not.

Being that the 2020 election is over and the winner, Joe Biden, is in office, there have been calls for reunification from both sides of the political spectrum. A central theme of Biden’s platform throughout his presidential campaign was being a President for all Americans, not just the ones who voted for him. Biden’s inaugural address discusses the political polarization in our country several times. “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this, if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts. If we show a little tolerance and humility. And if we are willing to stand in the other person’s shoes,” (Wise, 0:38-1:05). Some prominent Republicans even expressed appreciation for Biden’s speech calling for unity, including Senators Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, and Susan Collins (Sprunt). 

During Super Bowl LV on this past Sunday (2/7), Jeep played a commercial that echoes the calls for unity coming from other prominent figures. The video clip can be found here. In summary, the commercial opens by talking about a chapel in Kansas that is the middle point of the continental 48 states, is open 24/7, and welcomes anyone who wants to come in (IGN). The commercial has Bruce Springsteen as the narrator, and he continues by saying how “the middle” has been hard to reach recently because there is a divide between “red and blue, servant and citizen,” (IGN). At the end of the commercial, the screen has an outline of the continental 48 states with a star at the point in the middle and the words “To the ReUnited States of America”. My initial thought after watching this advertisement is that maybe Jeep has been known to donate to Republicans and possibly even some of its top executives are open Trump supporters, so they are using this commercial and call for unity as a way to redeem their brand from being boycotted by staunch critics of Donald Trump. However, after going on my app called “Goods Unite Us”, which provides information on where top executives of companies donate their money, I was surprised to see that Jeep’s donations to political entities goes to 86% Democratic candidates and organizations while only 14% goes to Republicans.  

I did not see this ad when it was played on live tv, I looked it up after I saw the following Instagram post on my feed:

This post got me thinking about the current political climate in the United States. I remember talking to my mom once and asking her why she never went to high school reunions. Her answer was, “because you can’t reunite with people you were never united with in the first place.” The only thing holding us all together is that we live in the United States of America. Some of us chose to come here, most of us did not. Just because we all live in the U.S. does not mean we have to feel connected to everyone here. This post is similar to how my mom feels about high school because I was personally never united with racists, bigots, and insurrectionists therefore I am not sure there is a will or a way to reunite with them. However, some people believe that not all Trump supporters are racists, bigots, and/or insurrectionists, which is why they can be confused as to why people are so unwilling to put the Trump administration behind us and move on. 

I personally feel like the only way for true reunification to happen is Republicans in powerful positions cut ties with the whole Trump family. A good step would be the Senate convicting Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection at the capital and barring him from ever holding public office again. Trump harmed millions of Americans’ lives throughout his four years in office, and the only way for people who aided his destructive regime to gain respect and forgiveness from those who were harmed would be to sincerely denounce Donald Trump. It is not a statement of opinion that Donald Trump harmed people, it is a fact. The page linked here from the Center for American Progress lists 100 ways that Donald Trump’s policies in the first 100 days of his presidency harmed Americans. This list does not even include the denial of the coronavirus pandemic until 200,000 Americans had already died. Holding Trump accountable for his actions would be a significant step in unifying the United States. It is like any lesson you got in elementary school, if you hurt someone, you give them a genuine apology and try to show that you have changed by not repeating your actions. In this case, the stakes are much higher than a play time quarrel but the methods are similar, apologies and forgiveness bring people back together. 

On the other end, a big problem in recent political discussions is cancel culture. According to dictionary.com, “Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive,” (Lemoine). Canceling culture has even been done on a smaller scale to people who are not well-known. If people who supported Donald Trump are shamed online and cut off from relationships with liberal leaning individuals, this only pushes them closer to far-right extremists and makes them not so willing to apologize for their support of a dangerous man. Cancel culture is more harmful than it is helpful, in my opinion, because it isolates individuals and does nothing to actually help them change their ways. Conversations with people who were harmed is what helps people gain perspective, not being attacked and shamed publicly. Both sides need to listen to each other first for the reunification process to begin. Additionally, if a Democratic President or politician caused as much damage as Donald Trump did, I would want them to be held accountable for their actions as well. It goes both ways.

Works Cited:

“Jeep Super Bowl 55 Commercial – ‘The Middle Ft Bruce Springsteen.’” IGN, 7 Feb. 2021, www.ign.com/videos/jeep-super-bowl-55-commercial-the-middle-ft-bruce-springsteen.

Lemoine, Alexa. “What Does Cancel Culture Mean?” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, 19 Jan. 2021, www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/.

Progress, the Center for American. “100 Ways, in 100 Days, That Trump Has Hurt Americans.” Center for American Progress, 18 Sept. 2020, www.americanprogress.org/issues/general/news/2017/04/26/431299/100-ways-100-days-trump-hurt-americans/.

Sprunt, Barbara. “’What We Needed’: Several Republican Senators Praise Biden’s Call For Unity.” NPR, NPR, 20 Jan. 2021, www.npr.org/sections/inauguration-day-live-updates/2021/01/20/958854548/what-we-needed-several-republican-senators-praise-bidens-call-for-unity.