My perspective on the “healing and reconciliation” with Trump supporters as a Bosnian genocide survivor:

For healing and reconciliation to take place, you must have first admittance by the offending party and above all that party must be the one to ask for forgiveness.

As humans, we are taught that forgiveness and the ability to forgive is a virtue. But we are rarely, if ever taught, how to actually take that step, admit our wrongdoing, and ask for forgiveness. Most people are, people that have deeply fallen to propaganda even more so.

I am of the strong belief that we can and should work with people who have differing opinions than ours, political ones and personal ones. I also know that believing “Jews will replace us” and “Immigration are all rapists” is not a matter of political difference.

In my personal life, I have often extended a hand to many people who share widely differing opinions than mine. My family members, for example, share fairly conservative views on many things. I believe it’s my duty to get them to progress in their views. However...

My family members, for example, also don’t spread hatred, don’t propagate racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. If they did, my attempts to engage them and meet them where they’re at would cease. Hatred and political differences are not one and the same.

I don’t engage genocide deniers because for the most part, they are unrepentant and will ignore me. I do, however, engage people who don’t know the history of genocide in Bosnia or have fallen to propaganda at the hands of media, friends, or even family. I have to.

There have been many times in my life that I have worked with people who I’ve personally disliked but professionally required to work with. In those instances, I have put my differences aside and done the work for the good of the cause. But that is not the same as ignoring hate.

There have been times, where despite my best efforts to educate and inform, I have been met with pushback, stubbornness, and unwillingness to learn and progress. But I tried and I think it’s important to try. However, that is not the same as ignoring hate.

I used to believe that anyone with a certain political affiliation is a lost cause and unworthy of my time. I have learned that’s not the case and have done my best to discuss differing political opinions and share my knowledge. I have been successful and transformed people too.

But all of that has also required effort by the other party. A willingness to listen, learn, and admit wrongdoing. Many Trump supporters are not there yet. Maybe some of them don’t believe everything he does, but they decided it didn’t matter that he was a fascist propagandist.

That’s important to take into consideration too. Maybe some of them are “nice people” but how nice can anyone truly be if they believe kids should be in cages, Muslims are all terrorists, Black people are subhumans and Jewish people control the world?

Not everyone is a lost cause. There does need to be engaging of people who have fallen victim to propaganda. But in order to do that, there has to be some willingness on their end too.

I have to add and this is the most important lessons I can share. If you are a white person who has racist family members, I don’t think you should ignore them and cut them off. You, especially, need to take accountability and TRY to change their opinion. Not people of colour.

I engage Serbs with family who deny the genocide in Bosnia and have even engaged those who have family that even openly celebrated the genocide in Bosnia and they’ve come to me for advice and I have always told them: they will not listen to me, a Bosnian, but they will to you.

This is the important thing. We all need to be accountable to each other. We all have to try to address the issues in our own communities. It starts with us. But it also has to start with them too. The road to reconciliation is long and painful. It will not happen overnight.