The last election was a big reminder for us of how divided the United States is. More than just among groups of different religions and races, but also geographic regions. In general, states along coasts leaned towards Hillary Clinton, and central and southern states leaned towards Donald Trump. Of course, the divisiveness of ideologies between these regions is not new at all. But this time, the candidate on the red side in this election was considered very extreme. The two sides have probably never been more polarized than before. It has revealed how divided this country could be even more.
The states have been united politically by force since centuries ago but never socially. Different regions have had some fundamental differences in values and beliefs throughout the history. On many issues, including abortion, same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, racial segregation, gender equality, the coasts tend to be more liberal and the central and the south have been more conservative.
Let us leave our positions on those issues aside for this article. Why do we have different opinions on different issues? I always remember that a few years ago, my friend from an African country told me that at first, she did not feel very comfortable with gay people, because she was in a culture that had strong aversion to and hate against gay people. But after she came to the U.S., she was more exposed to openly gay people, and she felt that gay people were actually just like anyone else, which was a big contrast to the depiction by her people. She is definitely not alone.
