Last Friday, former U.S. President Barack Obama broke his silence about President Donald Trump and the Republican Party at a University of Illinois speech and his message was one we all need to heed.

Until Friday, Obama has observed an old tradition that former presidents stay out of the business of current presidents. He spoke out against Trump to urge Americans to vote in the midterm senator elections in November. Obama emphasized that voting in November could have a bigger effect than most people would know: the potential of dismantling the Republican Party’s control of the White House, Congress and potentially the Supreme Court.

Obama said in the speech, “So that with Republicans in control of Congress and the White House, without any checks or balances whatsoever, they’ve provided another trillion in tax cuts to people like me who, I promise, don’t need it, and don’t even pretend to pay for them.”

Obama is speaking about Trump giving tax cuts to wealthy Americans and not average citizens like you or me.

But that is not all Obama is speaking about to get Americans to change with their votes.

Obama said, “It shouldn’t be Democratic or Republican to say we don’t target certain groups of people based on what they look like or how they pray. We are Americans. We’re supposed to  stand up to bullies. Not follow them.”

Obama is speaking about how Trump and some Republicans discriminate against people of different races and religions, particularly Muslims and Hispanic people.

Our country right now is in a state of disarray. People of all races are not being given the opportunity to pursue their piece of the American Dream by working hard to be successful. People of all races are not being given the opportunity to better themselves, through our country of great opportunities to help us become more successful and more financially stable. People of all races are not being respected as human beings and worthy citizens of this country.

Why is this happening? We could chalk it up to people being ignorant of people who are not like them, but that is not all it is. We are refusing to find common ground with our fellow man, whether that man is Hispanic, African American, Asian, Middle Eastern or European. For this country to prosper and not be split down the seam, we must be willing to compromise with people who are so incredibly different than us.

To use a Christian idea, we should “love our neighbors as ourselves.” If you look at similar religious texts like the Quran or to religious doctrines like Buddhism and Hinduism, they all preach that we should treat everyone with love and seek to find common ground with them. You don’t even have to be religious to be a good person who listens to other people who are different than them. All you need to have is an open mind and an open heart for people.

Obama emphasized several times in the speech that standing up to discrimination, racial inequality, bigotry, and all-around hatred is not merely a Democrat or Republican idea. Is it not merely a liberal nor conservative idea, either. All people should be treated with respect. Hatred, discrimination, bigotry, and racial inequality are tearing apart the country right now. If we don’t stand up to fight it by casting our votes in November and standing up to negative things like discrimination, our country will never prosper.

Obama set an example in his speech to always fight for positive change in this country.

We must all always fight for equality and respect for all peoples.