I am just one man. Deeply flawed, full of personal conflicts and often wayward in life. I am in constant danger of sinking into an abyss of my own making. Each day is a task filled with other tasks that often overwhelm me. I also enjoy the privilege of pigmentation and genetics. I may be bald, overweight, mentally ill and have hair in places it shouldn’t be, but I’m also a white, cis, heterosexual male in rural Pennsylvania. And here, I am a king among kings.
My daily reality doesn’t involve being denied promotion because I’m a woman or minority. I’m not overtly afraid when confronted by a police officer. I do not have people casting glances my way, as sure as the sky is blue that I am a terrorist. My life, my entire existence, is safe. At least, that’s how it appears from the outside.
On the outside, I look like a Trump voter. I fit the demographic. Middle class. Disenfranchised with the current system. Pissed about Citizens United. Angry at the abuses we suffer at the hands of Father Government. Distraught at the future my kids will have. Unsure of my own future. Stuck in a job I do well at but can’t begin to enjoy.
Fuck all of that though. What you don’t see is what makes me who I am.
I have a mental illness. It stung when Trump made comments mocking the disabled. I took it to heart when he said I wasn’t mentally strong. I am someone with the potential to be marginalized.
I’m also an atheist. Truth be told, I prefer to be called a Humanist, but that doesn’t matter to many. I’m still evil. I’m still part of the secular PC squad ruining this country. Never mind that the constitution explicitly rejects religious tests and the freedom to worship (or not) as we choose is one of the great principles upon which this country was founded. That may not matter under and administration pandering to the extreme right. We are One Fucking Nation Under God!
I’m a little afraid of what that may mean in the coming months. Fear can be conquered. It can be harnessed. It can spur us to action. It can also drive us into darkness, hiding our true selves to avoid conflict and danger.
I am still one of the kings, and so my fear is minimal. I wield a power in society many do not. A statement from me carries with it weight. I didn’t come by that position because of my intellect, leadership qualities or hard won respect. It was granted to me simply because of my genitals and the color of my skin. It’s not fair. It isn’t right. It just is. I cannot continue to live under the comfortable illusion that if I don’t participate in oppression I am free from it.
♦◊♦
That’s why this election left me reeling.
We voted to continue a formula that meant oppression and marginalization. In choosing this particular candidate, who promised to drain the swamp of corruption in DC, we also voted to enable white supremacists, religiously intolerant bigots, and more like them to speak louder, to intimidate, to harass and to abuse. We told them their voices mattered more than those of anyone else.
To many women, we elected their abuser. We heard their stories, rejected their pain and opened fresh wounds.
People of color once again saw their oppressor elevated above them. During the campaign, our non-white friends and families were called murderers, rapists, thieves and thugs. There were no apologies for such incendiary rhetoric.
Muslims were told to shut up. Assimilate. Get with the program or get out. Go hang yourself with your hijab.
LBGT people were shoved mercilessly back into the closet. Convert. Choose to be straight or be criminalized.
The hate filled groups that make up our newly empowered Alt Right movement have seen their voices amplified. They have crept from the shadows where they had been banished and now revel in their new found acceptance. They spew their rhetoric with confidence. They divide, oppress and marginalize.
I understand. You voted your conscience. You chose your candidate based upon your own research and values. That’s what we do in this country. We make choices, sometimes impossible ones, to serve the greater good.
I’m not convinced your decision was a good one, but that isn’t for me to decide. History will look at this election with a clear lens and we will be judged accordingly.
You’ve got what you wanted though. A Trump White House, GOP Congress, GOP Senate and a soon to be conservative judiciary. The challenge is on you and your elected representatives to prove us Left Wing Liberal Elites wrong. I don’t have hope really, but I wish you would.
Let us get back to privilege though, because that’s what this comes down to. I have the privilege of knowing I’m likely to be just fine. They’ve got bigger fish to fry before going after the atheist pigs.
Here’s the hard part. Most of you want us to believe you aren’t racist. You aren’t prejudiced against non hetero-normative people. You don’t care what religion someone belongs to. We should all love each other. Truth be told, I’m struggling with that right now. I’m finding it hard to believe you when, just days after the election, thousands of alleged hate crimes have already been committed and you are silent.
But you chose policy over people. Minorities of all types tried to tell us how afraid they were and we didn’t listen. Yes. We. Many of us democrats carried on with our lives as though this shitshow of an election would be over and things would return to a lousy but normal equilibrium. We were wrong, all of us.
As the stories come out these past few days since the election, we are beginning to see just how enabled hatred has become. You voted on policy but accepted the consequences of a hate filled campaign.
It’s time to show you care. Stand against hate. Condemn it. March against it. Rattle cages. Write letters. Teach your kids that being gay isn’t a choice, it is biology. That being Muslim doesn’t make a person dangerous. Show them that people of color aren’t bottom feeders and criminals.
Rage against the machine that oppresses so many. Allow yourselves to feel empathy for those who are afraid. Take the time to understand why that fear is so real, so visceral. Understand how they feel facing down overt hatred each day.
♦◊♦
A friend of my daughter, who is not heterosexual, feels unsafe.
Other minority friends wonder when and if they’ll be attacked for no reason.
Women have been and will continue to be attacked with no repercussions.
Those were the consequences of this election cycle. It’s up to you to prove you stand with all of them, because to people here and across the world this looked like a referendum on equality and inclusion. To them, your revolution wasn’t just against an oligarchy under the guise of capitalism. It was a revolt against diversity.
What am I doing about it? I’m doubling down on my values. I won’t tolerate people in my presence being cast asunder, treated as less than equals or pushed to the fringes. I will speak up. I will write and teach. I will question the status quo and I will engage in uncomfortable conversations. Most of all though, I’ll look inward to be sure I’m modeling the behavior I expect. It starts with me.
If I don’t push back against my own privilege, I’m just a hypocrite with a pen.
There are no simple solutions. We face a myriad of problems in this country. Racism, Classism, Sexism, Homophobia. Gun violence, opioid addiction, rape culture and anti-intellectualism are issues we can’t just ignore, sticking our heads in the sand until a safer time appears. We must combat climate change and still create good jobs. Pay a living wage without bankrupting small businesses. None of those issues can be fixed with a sound bite strategy or infomercial pitch man.
The world is complex. A simple solution in a complex world is just pretty wrapping paper on a box full of shit.
What I’m saying is this: We need to work together to find solutions to these problems. No marginalizing. No hate. Ask questions. Listen. Propose solutions. Above all? Fight for the people around us whose voices don’t get heard.
—
Photo Credit: Twitter
I’m going to give you guys an experiential example. Given the current situation, I had some trepidation. I was in Milwaukee this week. Milwaukee is not known to be a sensitive place I’m from there. I know it. I was on the north side. Very predominantly black. The restaurants, stores, hotel was all staffed by black folks. I was in the vast minority. So I was interested in how I’d be perceived. At absolutely NO time, ever did I receive anything but common interaction and normal civility. None of the people did I know, nor did they know me. So… Read more »
You do realize that what’s going on all over the country, inspired by the left, is exactly what you claimed was going to happen by and from the right, which hasn’t happened. Yet. It may. But the left has already shown what it would be like should they prevail. I’m not impressed at all. They’re pushing this to literally a war. It’s not love and peace the left wants. It’s complete control. And that’s why there has been serious push back. You guys don’t get this. At all. I do encourage you to stop this. At least try. I’m not… Read more »
What am I doing about it? I’m doubling down on my values. I won’t tolerate people in my presence being cast asunder, treated as less than equals or pushed to the fringes. I will speak up. I will write and teach. I will question the status quo and I will engage in uncomfortable conversations. Most of all though, I’ll look inward to be sure I’m modeling the behavior I expect. It starts with me. Hmm. Yet up until this moment, you. And your side of the aisle did absolutely nothing to stop the harassment, denying freedom of speech. Sometimes even… Read more »
Mark, in all honesty, how does your mission to double down on your values and not tolerate people in your presence being cast asunder apply to how trump has regularly degraded other groups of people through words and action? And I don’t ask that to pick on you or put you down or be confrontational. I am just beyond confused. It just seems to me that right now women and minorities are not worth respecting when our futures president has humiliated both groups with regularity. Do you even know how much racism is going on right now?
Erin. The first part came from the author of this post article. There is not as much racism, nor sexism as much as the left wants everyone to believe. It truly isn’t there. That was campaign rhetoric. Listen to what Obama said a day before the election, and what he said 3 days after. Let’s get something very very clear going forward. Like trump, I want illegals out. I don’t care how you do it. Deport them. . Fine business a million per illegally employed. They will go. I don’t care how they go. No citizenship for anchor babies if… Read more »
Mark – For the record – I am not a fan of political parties and believe they both get in the way of doing what is truly right and fair for this country. Sometimes the left has a point and sometimes the right does. I think the entire system needs to be over-hauled and that the existence of Republican and Democratic parties only serves in dividing us further. The reality is that both parties engage in crappy stuff, to not put too fancy of a point on it. Both parties share a certain amount of smug superority over the other.… Read more »
Erin. Read my reply above. The doubling down came from the original author who was doubling down on fighting the trumpers even more. I was responding more to the left of what the left says. I’m not doubling down on anything. Stories of hateful trump supporters are now being proven as fabricated. This is how bad your side has become. The left are the liars and the violent ones. This is clear. You do know that trump was a Democrat until he decided to possibly run in 2012. But the rec told him to step down as Romney had it… Read more »
The ultimate privilege is when you prioritize your feelings over someone else’s ability to work and live a productive life. If I’m wrong and Trump ushers in an era of brownshirted govt. thugs then I’ll be among the first defending the helpless. If I’m right and all this drama is much ado about nothing? Well, eventually the rest of the country is going to figure out that the constant prating about oppression has so diluted the word that it is meaningless. We have YALE students blathering about their oppression now. Seriously- progressive worldviews put a black female Yalie higher on… Read more »
Well stated … let’s not forget that they need a “safe place” It comes down to their attempt to scare people. And with their egos still inflated, they feel that they will be listened to and believed because they said so.
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” -Abe
It would be good to learn how to respect the result of an election, even if you expected a different result.
I am fine with complaints and protests, but I am absolutely against people who are setting fires and smashing cars. I want them to be arrested and charged with vandalism and arson.
Do you agree with my opinion?
Complelety agree that the people who are destroying property and attacking others are wrong and deserve to be punished. Protesting should be peaceful, not anarchy. But you also have a lot of trump supporters who are gloating and what I call “happy-angry” spreading racism and sexism and screaming about white supremacy. But I do have to call foul on all the trump supporters who are all like “respect the process”. Was it not trump himself that set up the idea that it was all rigged and that he wouldn’t accept the results? This man plays games with the America public.… Read more »
Yeah. Kinda like national security lapses, emails, supporting huge ass civil rights violating countries because they pay me, and tearing down women for daring to discuss the sexuality abuse they took from my husband. Yep. Got a real winner there too Erin!
Mark, I could debate your points because I believe you’ve manipulated the conversation but what does it matter at this point? your guy won. And yet, your still arguing against Hillary. You won. Will you forever make excuses and consessions for Trump on Hillary’s proverbial back? At what point is trump held accountable for the things he does and says? Ever? Is he not his own person? Do his actions and words not deserve to held to some degree of accountability? Can you not even understand a little bit what it’s like to see a man run for the highest… Read more »
Of course I do Erin. I see it. Politics is filthy. So no surprise there. I said this somewhere else. Most of the left and right have the same goal. At least I think so, or rather hope so. But we have vastly different ways and beliefs of how to get there. And the left shoved theirs down my collective throat for going on decades now. They never offer red one olive. Much less a branch in all that time. And now those feelings come to a head. I argued this in business many years ago, and boy was I… Read more »
Mark, “of course” you do what? I asked you a series of questions. Which you seemed to ignore instead to attack the left and make a pretty disgusting dig about abortion. What answer is that, “of course I do” too? You avoided many of my questions. Can you please address them? Will you forever make excuses and concessions for Trump on Hillary’s proverbial back? At what point is Trump held accountable for the things he does and says? Ever? Is he not his own person? Do his actions and words not deserve to held to some degree of accountability? Can… Read more »
I don’t know what you want people to say about Trump. I’ve yet seen ANYONE who even remotely supported him, condone his behaviors. Hillary will continue to be brought into these conversations as long as the “riots” continue. Call them for what they are and they are not “violent” protests.
What Mark and others are doing is setting the record straight. They and countless others are not going to let this time in history be written with lies.
Thanks Tom. That’s exactly what I was trying to do and what you and I and many others are saying but it falls on tone deaf ears. Many on the left are some of the most nasty and vicious people I’ve ever seen. You can see that clearly right here on this very site. But they portray themselves as so kind and caring, but if they don’t get their way it’s Katie bar the door. Many lives and jobs have been tossed on that bonfire for their lies and deception and mere mock offense and innuendo. Many don’t care if… Read more »
It took me a couple of minutes to understand what you were saying in that subtitle. I must have read it five times before I went, “OOOooohhh.” That’s got some depth.
“Fight for the people around us whose voices don’t get heard.” What? Until November 8th, those were the only voices being heard. Only one narrative was being allowed and that’s why people are nervous. They didn’t want to hear what anyone else had to say and now they’re afraid that they won’t be able to ignore and scoff at them any longer. They’ll have to face their own bigotry and hate and that’s scary as h*ll. Just look at all the violence from the Clinton supports some of those should probably also be classified as hate crimes. They won’t be… Read more »
“Just look at all the violence from the Clinton supports some of those should probably also be classified as hate crimes.” Another prevarication exposed, John. Up until now all we’ve heard about was the hate of the Trump supporter, and look what we see; people being shot, store fronts destroyed, fires started, cars turned over, people hospitalized. The media elite calling them “protests” and not riots, showing none of the crimes and devastation left in their wake. I shake my head, it’s almost sureal how they do it, and continue to do so even with a giant spot light on… Read more »
Jesus H. With an outlook like that, how can one not be depressed. Very little of it true beyond conjured imaginings, a drink of the kool-Aide, but damn man, even feminist call rape culture a canard of the highest order. There is another world out there, one were fear and shame are not of issue. I have gay friends, relatives, many black friends. Most voted for trump, they all enjoy life, do not live in some innate bubble of fear. Sure, way back when, but today? Even being called a Nerd is considered a complement. I have gay family members,… Read more »
The left and its media will continue to push “their” narrative. It sells and keeps discourse alive and well. The media has fed them for countless years and the sheeple will continue to struggle with reality. I agree with the author in that we have to push, rattle cages etc. because it’s the only way the truth will come out. This election, people pushed, rattled the right cages and brought much of it to light. Society, the way it was being shown can be equated to the appearance of a “perfect” family only to find out that that family has… Read more »
Your gay friends, female friends , black friends are not the only people in the universe. People are scared for a reason. You don’t have to confront a president that systematically has degraded you or threatens your rights. You defend and stand by a man that has abused countless people.