I hear lots of talk about how isms, especially racism, are not new. Usually, such sentiments come from people as they comfort and educate the newly conscious. Lately, the words are being used as a dismissal by those who insist that others stop crediting President-elect Trump for recent hate crimes. After all, this stuff is as old as time. He didn't invent it. What boggles my mind is that some people blame President Obama for dividing the country. Since I haven't received empirical evidence of his fault, I'm assuming his very existence is what they believe fueled a division. Without it, I'm left up to my unscientific assumptions without impartial data.
This I know for sure. The U.S.A. is not more divided today than it was eight years ago. Marginalized people have always known how very divided the country is. Now that they're refusing to put up with stuff and getting louder, those who had the luxury of ignoring the divide are noticing the gulf. Many of these people are opening their eyes while resources switch away from their favor. The newly awakened are frustrated by dealing with what the disenfranchised have felt for centuries. Their comfort zone has been penetrated by reality, and they're angry.
Whether long-standing knowledge or a new revelation, acknowledging isms and divides does not absolve one from acting on behalf of targets. Each human must step up and report hate perpetrated by anyone. That is our duty. There are no qualifiers. Use your style and language, but you must act. To do otherwise is to enable hate - another thing that has been happening in the world for far too long. There are no passes. Everyone must speak up and stand by victims. No major religion teaches it's OK to be a bystander while others are persecuted. Consciousness and clean ethics demand that we all do what is right, even for those who are unlike us, especially those who are different.
Comentários