I was curious how common it is to be, say, a leftist in a very conservative area.
My county, family, and school are all very conservative. It makes it a bit intimidating to engage in any political discussion. I also rarely get to hear leftist opinion anywhere in person, which means i need to devote a lot of time to considering and thinking about arguments that are probably already solved.
Are you, or have you been, in a similar situation?
Socialist living a rural town, 30 minutes from a large city. I found some awesome like-minded people when I joined the local small community theater, but for the most part, everyone around me is super duper red. Birthplace of the KKK is like, a 10 min drive from me, so kinda figures.
After the Black Lives Matters riots in the city, I’ve been doing my own solo protests every Juneteenth, holding a big “Black Lives Matter” and “Happy Juneteenth!” sign by the main road through town. The first year I did it, had 3 separate people drive by shouting “white power!” and had the cops called on me, they told the cops I had a gun, presumably hoping that I’d be shot. I wasn’t carrying, I was not shot.
I’ve been doing it every year, and the “white power!” yells have ceased, now just people flicking me off or yelling “All Lives Matter!” which is progress, I guess! But the vast majority of the interactions are thumbs up and friendly honks from like minded people, in a 75-25 ratio.
Maybe it’s making a difference, maybe not, but I DO love yelling at racists. So far they’ve all been too cowardly to take me up on my offer to whoop their ass, but I’m hoping that will change 😊