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I am a proud Kentuckian. I love my home in Northern Kentucky, and I love that Cincinnati is in my backyard. This part of our wonderful state will always be my home, and I claim that with pride.
My Aunt Rhonda was equally proud of her home in Kansas City. She sent me Kansas City Royals’ and Chiefs’ care packages year-round, and her attempt to indoctrinate me worked.
Prepare your mind to hear this controversy:
I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan who loves the Cincinnati Bengals.
So, my sports-loving heart was divided this year, as my teams became rivals.
First, I want to defend that this has been the case since I first cared about the NFL. I have always cheered for both teams. However, I never expected it to be an issue; the Chiefs are good and the Bengals simply… weren’t.
… Until this year, when Joe Burrow led the Bengals through the season, his fire burning brighter with each victory.
I attended the 2022 regular season Chiefs vs. Bengals game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, and I proudly wore my Chiefs gear. I chose to cheer for the team my wonderful aunt loved so dearly. Nonetheless, when I saw the Bengals make an outstanding comeback, I was proud of my roots. I was excited to see history be made by a team I love.
Then, the two teams faced each other in the AFC championship. Again, I cheered for the Chiefs in a sea of Bengals fans (most who only claim the Bengals in their success). When I was amazed that the Bengals were returning to the Superbowl for the first time in 33 years, and proud to claim my hometown team, I received dirty looks and labels like “bandwagon” and “traitor.”
While I cannot blame avid sports fans for the trash talk, I felt like I had to choose between two things I loved dearly, simply because both could not always win.
The choice felt black and white.
I have found that we sit in this tension every day. We do not allow room for the grey. Everything is polarizing.
The first real-life example that comes to mind is politics. You are a democrat or a republican, and your beliefs must fully align with the side you claim. If you tell a democrat that you “lean right,” they will likely assume your alliance with every radical republican politician and your agreement with every right-minded opinion (and vice versa).
However, I have yet to meet one person that this is true for. We are all far too complex for such radical thought. We are not black and white creatures; we often sit in the grey.
Maybe if we all understood that we have divided hearts, we would be able to coincide with differing opinions and develop compromises. Maybe this grey area would calm all conflict and divisiveness.
I recommend that you challenge yourself, and I include myself in that challenge:
Are you okay with the grey?
Can you understand a point of view that is not so black and white?
I lean right and do not support Donald Trump.
I support universal health care and access to birth control, and I am pro-life.
I root for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Don’t allow these grey opinions to make you uncomfortable. Challenge yourself to believe beyond the black and white.
Let’s find peace and understanding in the grey.
Camryn McPherson is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2025. She is studying psychology and political science at the University of Louisville.