Beyond Red vs. Blue: Raising Kids in a Divided America

Fireworks, flags—and fractures. 

🎇 Let’s Be Honest: America Feels a Bit… Split

Red or blue—it’s no longer just politics.
It’s identity.
It’s worldview.
It’s how we talk (or don’t talk) to family, friends, and even strangers on the internet.

For moms like us, who just want to raise kind, thoughtful kids who can thrive in the world—this division?
It’s exhausting.

🎨 Red, Blue, and the Whole Messy Palette

Somewhere along the way, red and blue stopped being flag colors and started becoming labels for… everything.

• 🟥 Red might mean tradition, freedom, and faith.
• 🟦 Blue might stand for progress, justice, and community.

But here’s the kicker: most of us live somewhere in the middle.
And yet, we’re made to feel like we have to pick a side, all day, every day.
Even the news, the apps, the TikToks—everything’s pushing us further into our “camp.”

Remember when “agree to disagree” was actually a thing?
In this divided America there seems to be no middle ground.

📚 A Warning Wrapped in Fiction

I recently read Empire by Orson Scott Card. It’s fiction—but chillingly possible.
The book imagines an America so politically divided that it tips into civil war.

But here’s the part that hit home:

It doesn’t start with tanks.
It starts with rhetoric.
It starts with seeing “the other side” as less than human.

Sound familiar?

The characters in the book aren’t villains.
They’re smart, caring people who believe they’re saving the country.
But because no one’s willing to listen—they lose everything.

🧠 Real Talk: This Is Already Hurting Our Families

You don’t need a novel to see it:

• That awkward silence at family dinners
• The group texts that go dead after someone shares a “controversial” link
• Parents who won’t speak to their adult kids
• Moms like us, tiptoeing around playground conversations

We’re all just tired of shouting, be shouted at – which leads to… being afraid to speak at all.

👩‍👧 So What Do We Do as Moms?

We zoom out.
We remember the bigger picture.
We raise the generation that can do better.

Because whether you’re a minivan-driving Bible study mom or a podcast-loving activist mom (or both!), we all want:

• Clean air and clean water for our kids
• Schools that are safe, joyful, and full of actual learning
• The freedom to live our values—and to teach our kids to do the same
• A country that works, not one that just fights

This is our common ground.

🗣️ Talking to Our Kids About Politics (Without Losing Hope)

Let’s be real—our kids are watching everything.
They’re soaking in how we handle stress, disagreement, and those cringey Facebook arguments.
So let’s model:

• ✨ Curiosity over certainty
• ✨ Listening over labeling
• ✨ Empathy over echo chambers

Teach them that it’s okay to disagree—but it’s not okay to dehumanize.
They can believe something strongly and still respect someone who believes differently.

That’s not weakness. That’s strength. That’s leadership.
(And that’s what America should be.)

📖 Stories Matter

Stories shape how our kids see the world.
So let’s give them books, movies, and dinner-table conversations that show:

• Heroes on both sides of an issue
• The complexity of real people
• The hope that we can bridge divides—not just widen them

Card’s Empire reminded me that fiction can warn us, sure—but it can also wake us up.

🎆 This Fourth of July, Let’s Raise Something Better

We can’t control politicians.
We can’t fix cable news.
But we can build homes where kindness isn’t optional, and courage isn’t partisan.

So this Independence Day, while we grill the burgers and light the sparklers, maybe we also ask:

👉 What kind of country are we building—and who are we raising to inherit it?

Because red and blue are just colors.
But compassion? That’s the true color of America.

“If we don’t stop and learn to trust one another again, it’s only a matter of time before we tear each other apart.”
— Chief Benja, Raya and the Last Dragon