Change Will Not Come From Silence / I Am My Nation’s Inconvenient Truth 8/24/17

Change Will Not Come From Silence / I Am My Nation’s Inconvenient Truth I must continue to believe, no matter what, my country will evolve into that more perfect union where all are welcome and all have an equal seat at the table. For if I no longer believe in that more perfect union, I believe I will be lost, and I will, by default, become an active participant in the annihilation of said union. I am 64 year old disabled gay man of color. All of my life I have lived with the fear of what might happen if this country turned to the dark angels of it’s nature. That nature being the facts that this nation was founded upon the genocide of one people and the enslavement of another. That nature being the deep racism which permeates every cell of the makeup of this country like a cancer. This cancer, unless addressed, or at the very least mitigated in some way, will consume the very fabric of our union resulting in this (our) unions complete annihilation. With the election of twitler, my country has let me know, in no uncertain terms, I am no longer welcome here. twitler has repeatedly stated he is not my president. The events of Charlottesville and twitler’s heartfelt endorsement of nazis, the kkk, and the so-called alt-right as a whole has let me know in no uncertain terms who he is and he is not my president. Unfortunately he is the president. I lived in Richmond, Virginia, for twelve years. I lived in the Fan district and I walked out of my apartment(s) and saw the statues of jeb stuart and robert e. lee every day. There are also a lot of other confederate memorial states and the white house of the confederacy nearby which I saw way to regularly. Every time I saw these things it hurt. It hurt that part of me that try as I may to love my country ……. it hurt more because I do love my country. That kind of pain wears on me every day. Those monuments are a loud clear message that to me that I am not and will never be - no matter what I do - a full member of this Union. I will always be less than and not really a part of. I am my nations inconvenient truth. —— On a lighter note I do take great pride in the fact that I have pissed on most every confederate monument in Richmond, Virginia. I feel that this was the least that I could do. The “rights” gay people have won over the past several years will, in all likelihood, be repealed. This is already happening in the military. Black lives matter? …..Clearly not. Mass incarceration continues and with the return of the “law and order” mentality and the resultant changes in policies within the Department of Justice the future is bleak. That “safety net” of the Supreme Court and the U. S. Department of Justice which have, for the most part, continually moved this country “forward” (albeit kicking and screaming) is now compromised for the coming generation if not generations of Americans. The future of affordable healthcare in this country is now fundamentally compromised. Republicans will continue to push for the abolition of Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. I believe unless the democrats endorse a universal healthcare/single payer healthcare system Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security will be short lived. The complete assault upon our public schools continues unabated and is now enhanced with the choices of twitler’s choice of Secretary of Education. No longer do we identify the children of this nation as “our children”. Now our children have become “those children" and are seen types of foreign objects to be managed, thrown away, ignored or exterminated. As far as climate change is concerned…………our future is, along with the planet, going up in flames. Our children will not thank us and will be, if not already, ashamed of us. Insanity now rules in our nations capital. twitler’s decisions to place people in charge of the Departments of Energy, EPA, and Interior who do not even believe in or have knowledge of their respective departments missions …….. well we are screwed. Our children are screwed. The planet is screwed. Our country’s place in the world is forever diminished. The balance of power (how the USA is viewed) in the world has changed for the worse. I feel afraid for our men and women in uniform. I feel terrified for the “least” of us here in this country. I can no longer walk down the street in this country and feel welcome, safe or secure. I no longer feel proud to be an American. I am profoundly ashamed of and embarrassed by my country. The future does not look bright, especially for the children of this country. Hatred, intolerance, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia have, at this point in time, won the future of this country. I am reminded, once again, of the question I asked my mother when I was a little boy. Said question being … why do they (white people) hate us so much. She told me this was because they were sick. I asked what I could do to help them and was told I need to be the best human being I could be, to help all people whenever I could and to remember we are all human beings and no one person is greater or lesser than anyone else. In other words love them until they learn to love themselves. My mother then asked me how I was feeling. I thought about it for a few seconds and said I felt sad. Well, I am profoundly sad once again. I have that pit of terror in my stomach. My belief that love is powerful enough to overcome the wave of “insanity” which this country has now embraced has been shaken to its very core. So I come again to the crossroads of what do I do….what can I do…. what must I do. To begin, I have decided to do what my mother would have me do. I must love them until they can learn to love themselves. Now the question becomes how do I do this. How can I actively practice that love. My answer is to not be silent. To speak up and out about the insanity in the world and by doing so make a continuous appeal to the better angels of our nature. When I am out and about, at a friend’s house, a party, a public event … Whenever and wherever I hear words of intolerance/stupidity I must quietly speak that I am offended and state why. I will make myself available for a discussion about the issue raised. I will do my best to talk openly and honestly with those who also chose to have this discussion. If necessary I will turn and leave or ask said person(s) to leave my home. All are not ready for this discussion. But for those who are ready for this discussion change can occur. I must act on the better angel of my nature. Why speak up? What has my silence gained but the continuation of intolerance and all the negativity that comes with it. Change begins with my voice being heard. My continued silence serves only to give validation to intolerance. This “inconvenient truth” will be silent no more. So a toast to the better angels of our nature. I know I am not alone…..and neither are you.