This isn't about politics. This is about humanity.
I’m having a really hard time with what happened in Charlottesville.
White supremacy has always been an issue in America. Just because many of us, mostly white people, can’t or won’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Charlottesville's tragedy just made it more visible. It’s systemic, pervasive, and evolving. This didn’t happen overnight.
I’m also having a really hard time not writing about it. I’m a writer, after all. I don’t want to argue with anyone, but I also can’t sit on the sidelines.
I don’t care about your political party. I care about your humanity.
What happened in Charlottesville could happen anywhere. I don’t want to hear that there are violent protesters on the left, not because I condone violence when it aligns with my politics or because I’m in denial that progressives are also capable of violence. I don’t want to hear about it because it suggests that fighting back against hate is somehow equal to fighting back with hate.
Nazis commited genocide. Neo-Nazis would commit genocide. That is violence for the purpose of obtaining power through the oppression and slaughter of others because of some unfounded belief that those “others” are responsible for all the problems of society. It was wrong 80 years ago and it’s wrong now. Hate is never right.
Counter-protesters in Charlottesville (i.e., those who were there to stand against the Unite the Right white supremacist protesters) were there to defend themselves, their loved ones, and their fellow citizens against hate that would see them dead. That’s self-defense. If those counter-protesters were violent, it was self-defense, whether they cast the first stone or not.
There is no moral equivalency between action to defend peace and progress and action to promote hatred. I don’t have to consider both, or condemn both, with equal fervor. I don’t have to listen to both sides. (Neither should DJT, but again, this ain’t about politics!) One group is full of Nazis who want to kill—and this is just a short list—Jewish, black, Latino, homosexual, transgendered, mentally ill, and differently abled people and anyone who supports them; the other wants ALL PEOPLE to be safe from Nazis. One group drove a car into the other, killed someone, and injured others. These two groups are not equal! I’m sick of this school-yard game of “but they started it!” If someone is coming to kill you, you defend yourself.
I struggled with whether or not to post this, because I don’t see a lot of these conversations or sentiments on Steemit and because I could care less about engaging in an argument with anyone. At least not here; I will argue IRL when I have to. Again, this isn’t about politics. This is about knowing that Nazis are bad. Full stop. End of conversation. Nothing to debate.
This is about not being silent while evil marches on. This is about my heart, my consciousness. Your hearts. My humanity. Your humanity. This is about the world I want to live in.
I had to take my time with this because it is both tender and true. I've been thinking about the way this pulls my heart apart, each chamber struggling to come back together. That's what living in this time makes me feel. But then I read your voice and feel your love as a human and ally, and those chamber find their reconnections. I can breathe again. You are a life-preserver? It's not a question, really. You are creating space for all of us who are hurt to stand together. Thank you.
What a kind comment. Thank you so much. As always, when I can't make sense of things, I write it out. I appreciate having this space to share.
So much. . . this. Thank you for writing this piece, your voice is so badly needed.
Thank you, Rachel. I appreciate that.
I am afraid this is only a small beginning to what we will come to remember as a terrible end. I don't see a way to stop the ball that's been rolling since last year. It's picking up momentum at an ever increasing rate.
I'm trying to stay positive. I believe there are more good people than evil people...
I too believe there are more good. People are generally good, but MSM gives us this false sense that there is bad and evil around every single corner. I have traveled extensively, and warned all the time about certain locales, but of the 100,000 good and kind I only run across 1 evil. And sometimes that evil is not evil for evils sake- it's simply how they were raised and they know no better.
The Nazis and ISIS are two sides of the same coin. One side hates because they believe non whites are inferior and the other because they are not in the same belief system. Both are radical extremists who would kill there fellow man over ideas. To compare them to those who protest this hate, whether they are part of the left or otherwise, is insane. I still believe people's basic humanity will win in the end.
Thanks so much for your comment. I agree--that we can't equate those who hate with those who protest hate, and that our humanity will win in the end. <3