Hey Everyone!! :-)
There's something I've been thinking about for a while that I wanted to talk about. It's something a neighbor of mine said right after Doug Jones won the Senate election in Alabama, and I didn't write about it right away because I wanted to chew on it for a little bit. The comment on its surface was offensive, but I think it's actually worse than just the superficial bigotry it expressed, so I thought I'd share what happened and then share my thoughts. And after you read it, I'd love to hear what all of you think, too, in the comments.
So, as I said, this was just after the election, and several of my neighbors were standing around discussing it when I walked by. They called me over to ask what I thought about it, and I told them the truth. I'm glad that a known pedophile isn't now a member of Congress, but I think that at best Doug Jones can be expected to hopefully not completely suck as a Senator.
Doug Jones is a neoliberal who doesn't support single-payer healthcare or any of the other populist priorities that all Democrats should be backing at this point, but aren't, and I have a feeling he'll do a whole lot of nothing for a couple of years and then be replaced by a Republican who, hopefully, isn't a Christian Taliban pedophile. Because it's Alabama and I seriously doubt a do-nothing Senator like I expect Doug Jones to be will do anything to win over the Conservatives in a deep-red state like that. If he were actually a progressive who would work hard to help working people and who would stand up and fight for the interests of regular Americans, then I think he would stand a good chance of being reelected. But as things are, I don't have much confidence in that possibility.
It was at that point that my neighbors started sharing their concerns about the election and the conversation, in my opinion, turned ugly. One of them stated that the reason he didn't like the outcome was that he thought it would result in an overemphasis being placed on the interests of people of color by candidates in future elections. Well, okay, he didn't use the phrase "people of color" and he wasn't nearly that polite in expressing his viewpoint, but I'm not going to repeat what he actually said. That's the gist of what he said, and I'm pretty sure you all are smart enough to fill in the blanks.
Anyway, I left the conversation after that, since it was going nowhere productive and I've already discussed with those particular neighbors my feelings about such language. But it left me thinking about what he said. You see, I find myself having a hard time figuring out what interests people of color might have that I wouldn't want political candidates that I support to focus on.
I found myself making mental lists of the issues I've seen reported on where people of color seem to be coming together to take a stand about something. The first thing that came to mind was the BLM movement. Well, I have to say that I agree with them that police officers shouldn't be allowed to murder unarmed Americans and that if they do murder unarmed Americans they should be held legally responsible and go to prison. So, I can't really object to that being made a priority; if it were, I think we'd all be a lot safer.
Then, I thought of Standing Rock and the No DAPL movement led by Native Americans. That's another case where I have to say I agree with them. I think allowing multinational corporations to usurp private land over the objections of the owners of the land in order to further poison our planet and exacerbate the effects of climate change is a bad thing. So, I have to say I would be in favor of political candidates making that a priority and protecting the interests of regular Americans against the predation of big corporations.
So, then, I thought of what else might qualify as something I've noticed a number of people of color supporting, and the fight for a $15/hr minimum wage came to mind. Here, again, I have to say I'm in favor of it. I think anyone who works a fulltime job should earn enough to support themselves and their family. Honestly, I'm not even sure why anyone would be against that. So, again, I can't think of a downside to having political candidates make this a priority.
And on and on it went. The right for women to have full autonomy over their bodies. For access to safe, affordable birth control and to have the right to choose, without government interference, whether to carry or not to carry a pregnancy to term. Making a college education accessible to everyone by publicly funding tuition for state universities. Ensuring our regulatory agencies are doing their job and keeping our public water and food supplies safe, and that they're holding to account any corporations that jeopardize American lives by tainting our food or water sources. Yep, yep, yep. I agree; those are all good things to have political candidates focus on.
In fact, I couldn't think of a single example of anything that I've noticed large numbers of people of color supporting that I would be against. It almost seems that their interests are essentially the interests of any American who isn't a member of the 1%. In fact, with all of the issues I've mentioned, it's not just people of color who are fighting for them. People of all backgrounds are coming together to bring these concerns to the public's notice and to encourage politicians to make them a priority.
Yes, in some case, maybe many cases, people of color have taken a leadership role in these fights, but why is that a problem? If anything, the rest of us should be grateful to them for stepping up and doing the work. Which made me wonder what, specifically, my neighbor was objecting to so strenuously. Because, I assure you, there isn't anyone who lives in my neighborhood who wouldn't benefit from all of these issues being made national priorities.
Which led me to what I think the real problem is: the perceived divisions in our society that are instigated and encouraged by fear-mongers like Trump. These divisions are pointless and harmful. As I've already pointed out, most Americans have the same interests. It's only the interests of the rich and powerful that diverge from those I mentioned above. And, therefore, it only makes sense to look at the rich and powerful when investigating who might want to keep regular Americans divided and fighting among ourselves, rather than uniting in opposition to those who are trying to crush us all.
Frankly, I'm hoping that people like my neighbor will come to their senses and realize that what they're asking for is exactly what they say they're afraid of, just by a different name. I'm hoping that the majority of Americans will realize that reality so that we can all begin working together to overthrow the oligarchs and take back our country. Is my hope in vain? I don't know. It will depend on if Americans, by and large, are as smart as I think and hope they are. And only time can answer that question. But I'll keep on hoping and I'll also hope that the rest of you will join me. Because only by working together can we can fix the system and make America a great place for all of us to live.
Peace!
No comments:
Post a Comment