The Day After

Well. . .

Last night, America elected a reality television star to the most powerful position in the country, possibly even in the world; a reality star who sexually assaults women, who is literally endorsed by the KKK and dictators.

In a situation that only seems to happen here, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but because of our strange and archaic electoral college, Trump actually becomes the next President. Even more disheartening, the reports came out today that 46.9% of eligible voters DIDN'T vote at all. Almost 50% left their fates in the hands of other people.

I went to bed in a state of shock, in disbelief that all of the hard work we have put into moving this country forward the past eight years was disappearing before our eyes.

I got up this morning, after only having slept about an hour, hoping that it was all a terrible nightmare. It is, except this is a nightmare we will be having for the next four years. If Trump is even able to push through a third of his horrendous promises, millions upon millions of lives will be drastically altered.

This weighed heavily on my mind this morning as I drove to work. I had no idea how I was going to face my students. So we wrote and we talked. I sat there surrounded by a sea of beautiful young faces: black, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, white. They're male, female, queer, straight, LGBT+, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and everything in between. Only 15-16 years old, my students are very aware of what's going on, and they are extremely disappointed in their elders. They don't understand how we could allow a man who has said such horrific things about, well, everyone really, attain so much power. They're also scared: for themselves, their families, and their friends. These kids represent the very people that Trump and his ilk are railing against, and they know exactly what can happen because they've seen it already in their daily lives.

But as we talked, they gave me hope. When the next election rolls around, they'll be there, and they won't be voting for racism or misogyny or Islamaphobia or homophobia or xenophobia. They're angry but determined that their generation will get it right.

I, for one, will be right by their sides, fighting with them, and cheering them on.

To My Sisters Everywhere

To all my sisters,

You are Amazing.
Courageous.
Brave.
Strong.
Determined.
Important.
Inspiring.

For those of you who have shared your stories, thank you. You've showed others they're not alone and forced this country to sit up and confront the truth.

For those of you who are still hesitant to come forward, you are loved. You have a support system millions of women strong. When or if you are ready to share, you will have a wall of others standing beside you.

The country needs to hear our voices. We won't be ignored or belittled anymore.

Tom Buchanan and the Modern GOP

Something struck me these past few weeks watching the political circus we have somehow found ourselves in: I've read this before.

In the 1920s when F. Scott Fitzgerald was writing The Great Gatsby, the United States was being turned upside down. On one hand we had unprecedented wealth and opportunity for a large number of people; on the other, a horrific rise in racism and xenophobia in response to increased immigration and small advancements for African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration.

This darker side of America is encapsulated in Fitzgerald's character of Tom Buchanan. Tom, the rich polo player who has never had to work for anything in his life, nevertheless laments the way he sees America heading:

      "Civilization's going to pieces," broke out Tom violently. "I've gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read 'The Rise of the Colored Empires' by this man Goddard?"

      "Why, no," I [Nick] answered, rather surprised by his tone. 

     "Well, it's a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It's all scientific stuff; it's been proved." [. . .] "--And we've produced all the things that go to make civilization--oh, science and art, and all that. Do you see?" (12-13).

Tom sees the "other" as threatening his way of life, his rich white male privilege. For him, that hatred doesn't just extend to immigrants and people of color, it also extends to anyone whom he sees as being "beneath" him. Tom ultimately destroys lives, mirroring the very real violence that happened to people who dared strive for a dream that others deemed exclusively for the white elites.

Flash forward to the 2016 Republican Convention:

"I ask you to go back through history and figure out, where have these contributions been made by these other categories of people that you're talking about. Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?"

This time, we're not listening to a fictional character, but Congressman Steve King (R-IA) speaking to Chris Hayes on live television. Tom Buchanan has been reincarnated, but hasn't learned anything. Not long before this, David Duke, the former KKK Grand Dragon, announced that he was going to be running for senator because Donald Trump agreed with many of his ideals and made those ideals "acceptable."  If these two were the lone voices bemoaning the state of America, no one would think anything of it. But they're not. As a matter of fact, they're indicative of a much larger racist and xenophobic faction in the GOP (and the United States at large) being spurred on by the Republican Presidential nominee. If you don't believe me, just watch this (warning: graphic language and violence). And that's just a small portion on the vitriol being spewed toward anyone who doesn't agree with Trump's vision of "making America great again". 

The GOP has turned Tom Buchanan into their poster child, willingly or not. We're not supposed to root for Tom, though: he destroys all the lives he comes in contact with and walks away unscathed. He's the dark side of America, the side we are supposed to be continually striving against, not give in to. 

There is another option, though. Even if Gatsby is far from perfect, even if he has lied to get to where he is, everything his does, albeit imperfectly, is for a better life, that vision of the American Dream that dances in front of all of our faces. He pushes back against Tom Buchanan and his elitism because he knows Tom for what he is. 

We all want more for ourselves and those we love, regardless of where we come from. And we have a very clear choice to make as voters. We can give in to hatred and bigotry and allow Tom Buchanan to win once again. Or, we can refuse to let his hatred define who we are and reach out for something better, even if it isn't completely perfect. In the end, isn't that green light ultimately worth fighting for? 

Photo Credit: me

*Quote taken from the 2004 Scribner Paperback Edition of The Great Gatsby.

The Personal IS Political

Note: A friend of mine posted on Facebook recently that he is going to start deleting friends who post political things on the site. While his decision was based on the hatred that is obviously spilled on social media, and often surrounds posts of a political nature, I feel as if he is a bit misguided in his belief that such sites should only contain personal information, and not one's political views. While I'm not sure I haven't been deleted yet (I do post a lot of political things on my Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as on here), I offer this to him, and to anyone else who thinks that pictures of children and cat videos are the only thing that have a place on social media: 



The personal IS political. Everything that we discuss politically happens because it affects a human being. Even if it's not personal to you, even if you wish people would just shut up about a topic, doesn't mean it isn't a very real, very important topic to someone else. 

Welfare

Reproductive Justice

Veterans' Benefits

Education

War

Black Lives Matter 

Health Care

Behind each of these issues, and hundreds more, there are living, breathing human beings involved. Personally involved. They aren't abstract ideas or issues. The issues ARE the people: their lives, their families, even their deaths. 

So before simply saying "I don't care about politics." Or, "I'm so tired of hearing about this issue," put yourself in someone else's shoes, someone who is directly affected by the issue you're bored of or that you think doesn't matter, and consider how they feel when you dismiss their circumstances.  

 And yes, keep the hate out of it. We all have to share this planet, as imperfect as we've made Her. Compassion and empathy are essential, and will go much farther than vile words and hatred.  

Hey, America? I'm tired.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of seeing strong, intelligent women being lam-blasted on social media when they speak out against misogyny and other forms of discrimination. That these attacks devolve so quickly into rape and death threats is shocking, and the fact that so many people shrug them off as "just words" proves how far we still have to go to treat women as equals in this country.

I'm tired of men sitting in positions of power dictating--STILL--what women can and cannot do with their reproductive health. 

I'm tired of becoming numb to the number of shootings in our country. There are approximately 200 shootings in the United States each day (including non-fatal incidents and suicides). We barely react. But 17 people are killed over a cartoon in another country, and it obsesses our nation for weeks. 

I'm tired of reading about young, unarmed black men being killed by those who are supposed to bring people to justice. White men can go on killing sprees, including killing police officers, and be brought in--living--to face their day in court. Black men (and women) don't usually have that luxury. And now, the FBI is investigating a death in Mississippi--a black man found hanging from a tree. We seem to have rewound the clock to the 1950s, and it's terrifying. As a white woman, it's terrifying. As a black person today, I can't even imagine.  

I'm tired of people assuming those receiving types government assistance are lazy, good for nothing bums who just need to get a job, when so many of those needing assistance are members of our military or people who are working two and three jobs with families and STILL can't make ends meet because minimum wage is a joke. 

I'm tired of Christians introducing hateful, discriminatory laws toward LGBTQ individuals that are beginning to hearken back to Jim Crow-like ideology. I don't care if you say it's for "religious" reasons: if you say you refuse service to someone because of who they are, and you want to post signs saying you won't serve a certain type of person, you're a bigot. The Bible was used to enforce and justify slavery and Jim Crow and the subjugation of women as well.

And, yes, I know...

#notallcops

#notallmen

#notallgunowners

#notallwhitepeople

#notallChristians

Et cetera, et cetera. 

But if even one person in a group is committing these types of discrimination and hatred, the rest of the group has a responsibility to step up and change things. 

I'm tired of a lot of other things--too many to count, really. Being tired doesn't mean stop fighting, though; it just means there's still work to be done, by all of us. Because if we truly believe in American values, we need to start acting like it.