Someone reposted my post about
glue, and someone interpreted in a more literal vein than I intended.
Unfortunately, the particularly hate-filled rhetoric from the Trump campaign captured the headlines from the past year and continued to obscure from any meaningful policy discussions - but maybe lancing the wound and releasing the hate IS the message, as well.
There is a significant faction within the GOP coalition that is racist and misogynistic (among other things), and I believe strongly that if you voted alongside them and turned a blind eye to those words and tweets and the "locker room talk" because of policy differences, then you did a great disservice to many Americans.
The policy differences in a checks and balances system are, and will continue to be, negotiated ad nauseam. But, I believe that so many GOP voters allowed, by their silence on these issues and the unwillingness to say "That's RACIST" or "That is WRONG" or demand accountability or an actual sincere apology from the candidate, they allowed the
worst among us to openly step forward, validated, in their limited perspectives on women and people of color and the LBGT community, among others,
and now those people believe they have a mandate.
Take back the GOP, friends. Take it back for what I remember it being when I was growing up in a ruby red stronghold, daughter of a card-holding union blue Democrat, and I was raised to respect and see both sides.
In a way, it's good that this racism is out in the open. Now we can all be the glue - the blue and the red among us - and stand up and purge it from our nation. The GOP is where it lives right now, unfortunately, and there is no pressure from the outside that will correct that course. It must be driven out by the strong, compassionate conservatives that need to stand up and demand respect.
What can we all do every day?
I have a lovely friend, she's brilliant and she's 25 and she's "brown" and she has helped me learn about what it means to her to be a person of color and a woman in America. She said once that the most horrifying thing that happens on a day to day basis is that someone - anyone - will say something so obviously racist, in mixed company or in an all-white crowd, and no white person speaks out. It's like they feel that it's the minority person's obligation to do it (or no one if it's an all white group). That's bullshit.
Defend those from bullies precisely because they are being victimized. If woman is being raped and a man walks by, he can't just do nothing because it's the "woman's responsibility to not be raped." Fuck that. People in positions of power and respect need to ALWAYS speak up on behalf of those who feel afraid to do so and because it's the right thing to do. You don't need to get into an hour-long argument about white privilege or even political correctness or a debate on whether a joke is a joke. If you know it's racist, just fucking say it. That's racist. That's sexist. That's hurtful. That's limited. That's unacceptable. That's not setting a good example for our children.
And that is all. Don't even say it with condescension. Literally, gently remind people that we can't accept racism and misogyny and hate speech, even if it's casually tossed about as a half joke.
Privilege is real, but it doesn't have to be anything aside from acknowledged and used to help protect people who are marginalized and to stand up and help end hate. And that goes for "white trash." Fucking end that. It's rude and classist, if not racist, too.
As for me, I am here in the most liberal place in the country, and people around me are afraid, truly afraid for their physical person. I am afraid for my daughter's African American classmates and their parents. I am afraid for my nanny and her husband, both from Mexico with gorgeous Mexican-American children. I am afraid for my neighbors who have adopted a beautiful baby boy and raising him in a loving, same-sex household. I am afraid for my daughter and her innocence and how her self confidence and physical being may be casually violated by another child who thinks "grabbing by the pussy" is just a thing we should try on the playground one day because the President of the United States said it on TV.
There is NO ONE who can step up and protect women, people of color, LBGT families, children, persons with disabilities MORE than the people who step into the next four years with a mandate.
I implore all of my conservative friends and family members, please, step up and show us that you are about love and hope and the glue, not about hate.
Support your policy aims, and we will respectfully fight back when we disagree, but please protect me, my friends, my families, and the vulnerable and afraid.
You have inherited a great responsibility with this victory. Let's make all of America great.
