Jim Moore seen from the outside working in his shop at 4807 Lee Highway, Arlington. Photo by Eden Brown.
Jim Moore says the election this year has caused dissent and divisiveness, even in his barber shop. Mr. Moore’s shop at 4807 Lee Highway in Arlington has always been a hub for discussion and exchange during the lead-up to the election.
“In previous years, various organizations had left off a stack of registration forms in my shop. I’m not sure why they stopped doing that,” he said. He put them by the window and encouraged anyone who hadn’t registered yet to take one and send it in. It was a great way to stimulate a conversation about the importance of voting. But that conversation was never as full of heat as it has been this year.
This year, he’s been asking people if they voted, or if they planned to vote. A number of people have said they were not going to vote, he said. “What?” Moore asked them. “People died making sure we had the right to vote, and it’s our responsibility. Even if you are well off, what about the guy who isn’t?” Very often, the men who say they won’t vote say, “I don’t like either one of them.” He pushes back: “Why don’t you like Hillary Clinton?” “Those emails,” is the response. “What about those emails?” he presses. And then the response comes back a little less precise: “I don’t really know …” Moore shook his head. “This election is bringing out divisions in many ways,” he said. “Black and white, male and female, young and old.”
Things came to a head when GOP political commentator and consultant Paris Dennard came to his shop for a haircut one day and said he was supporting Donald Trump. Emotions ran high. Moore had to calm things down before a more serious argument broke out. And then on the morning of Nov. 4, he said, “The conservative radio station WMAL set up down the street at the Metro 29 Diner, and outside were a number of women holding signs saying “Women for Trump” and “Honk if You Love Trump”. Moore said so many people were honking as they drove by that it made people feel uncomfortable, largely because no one could understand why that many local women supported Trump.
But what really gets to Moore is when he hears the phrase, “What’s Barack Obama really done for me?” “Or what did Hillary Clinton ever do for me?” “You only expect that the President is going to personally do something for you and that’s why you vote or don’t vote?” he asked rhetorically. “ What happened to doing for yourself? The President only sets up opportunities,” he said. “The rest is up to you.”