Joe: Amen.
Kristen Soltis Anderson: Krupal, how about you?
Krupal (Asian, 22, medical assistant, Maryland): I would say you’re not allowed to be free anymore. Due to the internet and social media, a bunch of trolls have gotten so much power. They’re constantly out there to play gotcha. So you got to be cautious.
Patrick Healy: For those of you who this has happened to, where you’ve expressed an opinion and you feel like people have come after you or gotten angry — where does it happen?
Danny: I’ve been a Realtor for 22 years. I’ve lived in Orlando for 44 years. I have a pretty damn good reputation. I’m not being arrogant. About a year and a half ago, I was the president of one of the homeowners’ associations in our community. An Asian woman got into an argument with us. When I say “us,” I mean the whole board. That night, she went and wrote a review on my business page saying that I’m a racist. My parents are Lebanese. I was beaten up every day when I was a kid because I’m Arabic. But I’m born in America. I’m not racist. I love cultures. I love languages. She wrote a nasty review, and Google won’t take it down, even though she wasn’t a client of mine. She’d never bought a house from me. She never did business with me, but she said that I’m a racist. That’s what’s happening today. And that never happened 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago. And you know what’s worse? You can’t stop it.
Robert: I agree with what Danny’s saying. People become judge, jury and executioner. It could be at work. Even at church. If you got a different viewpoint than the other people and you’re in the minority, then you could be — what do you call it? — bullied.
Patrick Healy: Robert, is there something specific that you remember happening?
Robert: I voted for Trump. I like Trump from when he was with “The Apprentice.” I knew him as a businessperson. That’s why I voted for him. And then — oh, Lord — from church to every place, people just had a problem with it. You can’t have a different viewpoint.
Christopher: I just want to harmonize with what Robert is saying. I don’t even know if you guys have heard of this term, but I’ve been called coon, and Sambo and every word in the book. When it came to Trump, everybody is so focused on the sound bites. But when I show them the executive orders that he’s done for so many different cultures and people that are part of America, they don’t want to hear that. They only want to stick to the sound bites. That’s when I realized just how irrational so many Americans are. And I blame a huge part of that on the media.
Derrick: I mean, even before the information age, talking about politics inflamed people. Even before the information age, talking about religion inflamed people. Now you’ve got access to all this information through all these different sources, so it’s coming at you fast and furious. But for me, the same thing’s been happening forever. Twenty years, 30 years ago, you talk about politics, you get into a heated argument.
