As the president for our Turning Point USA chapter here on campus, I see political violence more often than you might think, and the political climate has only heated up more after the events of this semester.
Most of the violence towards our club started this semester. Our chapter has been established on this campus for almost two years, yet students with other political views have only gotten violent with us now.
When was the last time you saw someone shouting at another student, or destroying their property at the student center or in the quad? Well, this has happened to us multiple times, and the situation seems to be escalating. For example, never had our tabling materials been vandalized, and yet this semester it has happened twice. One of these cases was heard in court Dec. 3.
Not everyone is going to agree with each other, and disagreement with the government is allowed; that is the amazing part of the United States of America. But just because you might disagree with a person or their beliefs does not mean you can commit a crime against that group or person.
The problem comes when people or property are physically harmed as a result of disagreement. For example, club signs being vandalized while tabling or threats being posted to social media.
Sadly, research shows that acceptance of political violence is more prevalent than we want to think. Two recent studies—one from YouGov research and the other from Marquette University—showed more than 10% of U.S. adults say political violence “can sometimes be justified.” Though there are extremists on both sides of the political spectrum who may feel that way, these studies found that young people and those who described themselves as liberal or very liberal were more likely to hold that view.
Political violence has no place here on our campus or around the world. The bigger question some of our members ask when violent events take place is why the violence is always against our club.
So next time you question why we are out tabling or asking the questions we do, come have a peaceful conversation with us. That will make more of an impact on stopping political violence than any post on social media.
Our chapter is not going anywhere. We are growing every day. We hope those who disagree can accept this and start having a conversation, and we hope that those who agree with us join the movement. You never know, we might agree on more than you think. It all starts with a small conversation, never with violence.
