Your Comfort is My Terror

 I know that you love me and all of the black and  brown people in your life--and so, clearly you are not racist, right? Many of you are not. (However, proximity doesn't have anything to do with whether or not you are racist.) I'm not talking to those who are racist, at the moment--certainly not to those who recognize their racist beliefs or behaviors. 

I'm addressing my white friends and others who don't recognize how damaging their choices are (although they are clearly their rights), to people of color. 

Your vote for individuals who are hell-bent on turning the clock backwards on our rights is dangerous to our "pursuit to happiness", and our very right to exist. Your failure to dig deeper than Fox News, Newsmax, Breitbart and social media for your "facts" is life-threatening for me and a whole segment of society. While you amen Tucker Carlson's diatribes instead of looking for unbiased sources of factual news, we are being impacted by the changes that are occurring and have rapidly advanced even more over the last 10-15 years. 

The strides made during the civil rights era are being eroded, and instead of continued progress we are watching the hard-fought, bloody gains made by our predecessors slip away to maintain the white male status quo. 

You might point to the fact that we elected an African American president. I would point to the night of his inauguration and the Washington steakhouse meeting where the pact was made by  the (then) leading Republicans of Congress and the Senate to block every effort of President Obama and make him a one term president. Why? He hadn't even had a chance to govern. But they kept that pact, even as Democrats became enraged with him for continuing to try to be bipartisan. Eventually, he gave up and used executive orders to get things done, only to have those who opposed everything he did call for his impeachment, because "he overstepped his authority".

It didn't take much to overstep his authority. As president, it was okay to disrespect him publicly, in ways no previous president had ever been. Even his wife and children were openly mocked and mistreated by right-wing media, as well as Republican officials. The scandal of him wearing a tan suit, or Mrs. Obama wearing a sleeveless dress! The things that were required and demanded of the first black president were wearisome to watch, but the truth is we're accustomed to having to do above and beyond to get less. And, it is exhausting. 

What we need for you to acknowledge and understand is that your decisions affect us...detrimentally. How you vote determines whether we will have the right to vote. That became evident in the last election when people of color voted like our lives depended on it--because they did. Then we watched as those in authority attempted multiple times to strip us of our right to participate in a fair election. We are the ones who should have been carrying placards saying, "Stop the Steal". The only attempt at stolen votes were those (of the votes) of people in predominantly black and brown districts where people came out en masse to reject President Trump. There were no votes stolen from him. That is evident because the same ballot that rejected him chose to put so many Republicans in the House and the Senate. That would defy logic. 

Now, we are left with many congressmen and women and senators who have an agenda that is extremely concerning to me. Already, changes are being made to state legislatures to ensure that the Democratic victory of 2020 is not repeated in 2022. Plans for redistricting and limiting voting places in "certain areas"--and of course, early and mail in voting. Who is most affected by these changes? I'll let you answer that.

When people can not vote, they have no say in what happens in the judicial system. We can no longer assume that we will be tried by a jury of our peers--it wasn't that long ago that lack of voting rights meant all white juries. It affects housing, healthcare, education and everything associated with life. That's what systemic racism is about. And, we have yet to conquer the effects of it that still exist today. We cannot afford to regress.

Here's what I really need you to do...think beyond what is best for you. Think of what is best for everyone. Understand that there is enough for everyone. Don't believe the lie. If 99% of us stood together to support one another, we would see how blessed this nation really is. God has given us so much, and He commands us to be "good stewards" and to "care for the least among us", "the foreigner" "the orphans" and to "love one another as you love yourself".

Your vote has the power to help you and those like you or it can change the world for all of us. 

WWJD?




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