Dear Editor,
Like many Georgians, I felt the sting of watching our Dawgs fall to Alabama. That familiar pit in your stomach when your team loses — we’ve all been there.
But as I reflected on that disappointment, I realized how easily we let this winner-versus-loser mentality spill over into other aspects of our lives. We’re conditioned to view everything through a rivalry lens.
This tribal thinking has become a powerful political tool. We’re told Christians are under siege, that people different from us pose threats, that the “other side” is inherently violent, even when statistical evidence suggests otherwise. These narratives tap into the same emotions we feel when our team loses: frustration, fear, and the desperate need to be on the winning side.
But sports rivalries are ultimately just games. At the end of the day, Alabama fans and Georgia fans work alongside each other and share the same hopes for their families.
Our political divisions don’t have to define us the same way. The transgender neighbor isn’t the enemy; they’re just trying to live with dignity. The family with different political beliefs isn’t adversaries; they’re fellow Americans facing the same challenges we are.
Immigrants aren’t criminals; they’re following in the footsteps of every one of our ancestors who traveled to America from across the ocean.
If we continue to treat every issue as a zero-sum game, we’ll tear apart the communities we claim to be fighting for. Let’s save the rivalry spirit for Saturday afternoons where it belongs.
Demand our political leaders do the same.
Ace Jones, Greensboro