Maybe I did just fall out of a coconut tree. Because I don’t know what’s going on. 

Memes of Kamala Harris are inescapable. There are fan-cams, edits, and “Brat” T-shirts; left and right are Harris’ hilarious moments throughout her term as the vice president of the United States. These jokes appear to be funny at first, but they all serve a single purpose: endearing Harris to the American people. 

Depictions of Harris as a light-hearted woman on a “magical pharmaceutical cocktail” not only belittle her position of power, but allow us to forget that she’s making decisions that directly impact the lives of millions, if not billions of people. Harris is a public servant to the American populace. She is not your crazy aunt at the cookout and she should not be in your dream blunt rotation.

We behave as if we know who she is and what her true intentions are, but we have no clue. When we ignore the fact that she has a hand in drafting and approving the policies that run our nation, and refuse to critique them because she’s the “better” candidate, she is washed in a glow of neutrality. 

This is the same person who said she has supported, for her entire career and life, the apartheid (officially dubbed so by the International Court of Justice) State of Israel. There were constant promises made throughout the Sept. 10 2024 presidential debate to create an America focused on our common humanity while she instead, through policies and donations, dehumanizes millions. 

She may be the left’s only option, but she certainly isn’t our friend. 

My critique of Harris is not to say I support her opponent. To be an active participant in politics means one should be educated on who exactly they’re voting for. There’s a surface level understanding of all liberals that nobody wants this, but to sit in silence and not oppose the harmful decisions Harris makes simply because the alternative is worse is a disservice to all under her jurisdiction.

If we weren’t so divided by the two party system, one may be drawn to the other candidate. But this is where a bad dream becomes a nightmare. The “other candidate” has confidently gotten on stage, falsely declared that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s dogs and household pets, and people believe him.

I am a coconut, rolling all over the ground in a daze, because, WHAT.

This is a different type of surrealism. Hearing racist falsehoods from American citizens is one thing—it’s something people may expect, but not tolerate—but to hear these words come from a man who has been and wants to once again be the president of the United States is, frankly, a lot to handle mentally. These comments aren’t limited to immigrants: their targets span multiple ethnic-minority communities in the United States, including Harris, whom he claimed suddenly “became Black”. 

Although a good portion of the populace recognize the ludicrous nature of Trump’s statement, there’s always the other half that don’t. I watched the debate in a room full of people who immediately cackled at the insanity of said false claims. But my reality in that room does not mirror the reality of other citizens, who shouted not in outrage, but agreement. 

Every student on this campus seems to walk in a haze as we near the election. The existentialism can be felt in the air, almost hard to breathe through. Even though this is the surrealist reality we currently inhabit, we must also remember to advocate for those who will be impacted more harshly than ourselves due to the outcome of the election. 

This isn’t to say we on campus are not impacted by what happens. In fact, a large amount of us will be, in ways we may not yet understand. This is rather to urge individuals to contextualize our privilege as students at a private institution. It’s important to use the resources available to us to not only vote responsibly, but to remain grounded in reality, even when the current political scene feels like a waking dream.