I too grew up conservative, and I too was making racist jokes young. It was entirely acceptable to say racial slurs. While passing by black people on the street, we'd all joke about the N word we just saw.

I've changed dramatically since moving out and surrounding myself with wholly better people. I still get lambasted for being a liberal by family. But I was once one of them. And I know for a fact how ignorant they are. They get their information from conservative-only sources (probably less than a handful) and anything else is fake news or has an agenda. They don't use reason or facts. And when confronted with those things, they only double down. I can't believe I made it out of that lifestyle. It is truly a trap.

I refuse to believe conservatism and religion is anything but a plague on this country. We would be so much better off if they hadn't been brainwashed by Rush and Hannity for the last few decades.