I came onto this blog tonight to post my two entries as
assigned for the week, neither of which seem particularly relevant compared to
the 2016 election. However, another post caught my eye: “For
Those Who Feel That Things Won’t Be Ok”. To the author of the entry, Comic
Sans: the optimism in your post is admirable. There are points which I agree
with wholeheartedly, and hope that others will fixate on: We cannot allow anger
and devastation to consume us, true. We do need to fight to make things okay,
also a valid point. Minorities and their friends and families are reasonably
concerned, definitely a fact. But these words, these motivational calls to
stand our ground and to stay true to our beliefs, they’re being swaddled and
cushioned in reassurances that are dismissive of the fear people are feeling.
Comic Sans, this is nothing against you personally, as I’m
sure your intent was only to remind us to stay strong and keep working towards
a better place. But “America has had bad Presidents before, and it will have
bad Presidents again”? I may have missed something in high school history, but
I’m fairly certain America has never elected someone whose campaign was built almost
entirely using walls of fear and a foundation of hate. To say that America has
survived the bad presidents we have had is true, but it seems to ignore those
that didn’t survive – through
wars, through systemic
injustices, through cracks
in a system that has never fully benefited all of the citizens it is
advertised to provide for. We are right to say and believe that we will not be
okay. You, Comic Sans, are right to say that we should not allow these beliefs
to overcome us, but this is a reality for so many minorities in America right
now. It isn’t just our Presidential Elect that we need to be worried about
anymore, it’s the millions of people who voted him into office that now feel
validated in their hatred and violence of others. It’s the people who now feel
it’s alright to
physically and verbally attack others for existing in “their space”.
I’m not saying that we need to give up, I agree with Comic
Sans that we need to fight. I apologize for my repetitive syntax, but there are
things we need to make sure we all understand. We need to acknowledge that
there are people now who WILL NOT be okay. There are people who now feel
justified in hurting others and making threats. There are people who now think
it’s reasonable to grab strangers, harass them, beat them, intimidate them in
every way they know how. Not everything will be okay. Not everyone will make it
through this and be okay. But we need to know that, acknowledge it, and use it
to fuel our fire. The reality is, we need to take the fact that things are not
and likely will not be okay, and we need to stand together to change that fact.
Now more than ever, we need to stand together and help each other understand-
rationally and reasonably – what isn’t working, and what needs to be done to fix
that. This isn't something that we can just pat each other on the heads about and say "it will be okay", this is something that we need to actively admit is flawed, and try to change. Use your fear, use your anger, use your sadness, and use it to fight for a world we CAN be okay in. Because from the projection of how things are starting to go down, this world isn't it.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think you make some excellent, excellent points.
I must say that there are those of a demography for which many of these kinds of concerns are practically non-existent and therefore hard to understand. But, for the many others who are in fact minorities, this election is an almost unthinkable nightmare come true. The reality is while we are told that it will be okay because Trump is likely to fall remarkably short of any campaign rhetoric, which is more true than not, the image of those supporters thrashing innocent spectators, media personnel, and others around at Trump rallies is really where the concern is.
It would seem that the bigots, haters, and various malcontents now have a new found sense of rectitude in their nineteenth century hatreds. It may be, in their view, that a new day has dawned, one in which they now have “permission” to display and identity of open, explicit, and potentially violent hostility, bigotry, and pure hatred toward racial, gender, and other minorities.
I believe you are well placed in your concerns, and unfortunately it is possible that some of this may come to pass. But, I also believe at the same time that it may well not; and that if it does, the country will rally in a very massive, unmistakable way that has not been seen before. I, as someone who belongs to a minority group, thinks Trump is more of an opportunist than an ideologue; more of a pragmatist than an egomaniac; and more of a New Yorker with a life history of liberal leanings than one as a right-wing psycho-path.
While I may be engaging in more hope than persuaded by actual solid evidence, this matters for me and perhaps for you for only one reason: Once in office, Trump’s more verifiable liberal political views espoused over the years may well be expressed as a massive rebuke of any American or group of Americans who acts out in acts of hatred.
I hope I am right that Mr. Trump endeavors to stomp out this behavior and that he exemplifies our most cherished values of acceptance and tolerance of those who are different.
"the image of those supporters thrashing innocent spectators, media personnel, and others around at Trump rallies is really where the concern is."
DeleteAre you equally concerned about who paid those people to be violent?
"Mr. Trump endeavors to stomp out this behavior "
How do you feel about his 60 Minutes interview?
"I came onto this blog tonight to post my two entries as assigned for the week"
ReplyDeleteYou could follow my example, and do more than the minimum...
"I may have missed something in high school history, but I’m fairly certain America has never elected someone whose campaign was built almost entirely using walls of fear and a foundation of hate."
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Harding, Taft, Grant, Buchanan, Pierce, Fillmore, Taylor, Harrison, "Tippicanoe & Tyler too", and of course Andrew Jackson.
Although for the earlier presidents, you have to factor in that what you would call "walls of fear" and "foundations of hate" they would consider "politics as usual".
"there are things we need to make sure we all understand."
Who is this 'we' of which you speak? And how are you going to force them to understand your position?