September 16 — TKC received the following letter from Sophie Smith, senior, in response to a TKC Instagram Voice’s of Kirkwood post on Smith and the Young Conservatives club. To view the post, click here.

Recently, I was interviewed for a Voices of Kirkwood post for TKC’s social media. The post was intended to encourage students of KHS to not be afraid of speaking their mind when they possess the unwelcome opinion, and to ultimately, promote the Young Conservatives club. This post, only two days after it’s arrival, resulted in nearly 200 comments being posted in the comment section; one of the only social media posts on TKC’s Instagram page that has received that much commotion. As someone who worked on TKC for two years, I know that there has never been an adequate amount of representation for diverse voices. While I am ecstatic that this upcoming issue is a political issue, one that will showcase all differing political opinions, the content typically all aligns in the same way. There usually isn’t change in the fact that TKC has strong liberal ties. My point in this being, one of the only times that there is even a shred of differing opinion, it receives the hateful and unaccepting backlash that my VOK received. Those who commented on that post with the intent to start a fight are only evidence for that observation. The contents of those comments didn’t surprise me; this is a typical response to a different opinion that doesn’t fit the “norm.”

I was being verbally attacked; I use the word “attacked” because not only was my character being unfairly called into question by people who don’t know me, but my appearance was being insulted, my image was insulted, I was accused of being a person that I have never been and have never aspired to be, and I was meant to be completely shut down. I think one thing that is significant to note is the clear intentional hypocrisy; I was accused of being a person of poor character, while being continuously insulted. I was accused of being closed minded, while I was never being openly listened to. In fact, the entire intention of my interview was to promote open-mindedness and equality. Unfortunately, this is subjugation that myself and the majority of conservatives often experience, and it was the exact kind of subjugation (not to mention, plain bully mentality) that I was attempting to encourage others to speak out against in the VOK. For years, I have been waiting for someone, anybody, to tell it straight. I have been waiting for this mistreatment to be spoken out against; and what makes it sad is that many are, understandably, too afraid to do so. Today, I am sick of waiting. And as I write this, three days after the VOK was posted, I am not angry. I am not hurt. I am not filled with hate of any sort. I am not silenced. I am actually, quite satisfied. I am thankful that what was meant to be a hurtful situation, has actually turned into an inspiring situation that has fueled me to stand up and speak out even more. So, to those of you who were attempting to “bait” me, define who I am, and hurt me: I would still have to be upset in order to truly care about your opinions of me, or conservatives. You bore me. I hope one day, for your own sake, you grow out of the actions you displayed. To everyone else, my ultimate goal in writing this is to encourage you to understand, and this extends beyond KHS, that politically speaking, bad exists on both sides. Goodness also exists on both sides. However, the sole reason that anybody would ever be able to see that, is if they enable themselves to. I know of many who do not. It is foolish to succumb to the close-mindedness often portrayed in the media. Echo Chambers plague the Internet. Even in our own social media circle. I encourage all to break this cycle and form your own opinions based on research and exploring your own ideologies.