Have we really become so unempathetic as a society that the act of putting yourself in others’ shoes is unbelievable to the point that people assume you must be part of the group you’re defending? So I often see people being unfairly discriminatory and mean to certain types, attributes or qualities of people, which I know some would be offended and hurt by. But whenever I stick up for them, I get comments like this: “Tell me you’re x without telling me you’re x”. “F*** off, x”. A good example is gay people or trans people. I get heavily criticised for defending them and people immediately assume that I’m gay or trans just because I’m expressing that I empathise with how they’re treated in society and think people should be kinder toward them. There are lots of other examples but I’m worried I’ll be antagonised here just by saying them, so I picked some slightly more socially acceptable ones (yes there are some far less socially acceptable things than LGBT these days, in my experience, despite the rampant LGBTphobia).
Polarization and an us-vs-them attitude has permeated the culture of the United States. IMO it’s one way the ruling elites keep us working class people too busy fighting each other to do anything about the corrupt corporations that run everything.
One good way to lower the temperature is to do what you’re doing: practice empathy. Folks should always try to empathize with others, especially people they don’t agree with. Nobody thinks of themselves as the villain of their own story.
It’s helpful if we make a good faith effort to try to understand where other folks are coming from, and try to meet them where they are. Easier said than done in this “Twitter wars” environment, but a necessary tool in digging us out.