The Challenge We Face
We are all ignorant at various times in our lives. We all need to learn. Sometimes our ignorance can be hurtful. Not on purpose. It just is.
When I first got the idea for my book, Unswept Graves, I thought Asian immigrants to the US had experienced more or less the same things as European immigrants. I assumed they came here for the same reasons, dreamed the same dreams, and overcome the same challenges. Then I started researching and discovered the truth, that they had faced hostility and government-sanctioned prejudice. Then I knew better.
When the Black Lives Matter movement first started, I too wondered, "Don't all lives matter? Why do we have to single out black lives?" I hadn't realized just how different the African-American experience of this country is, even in an age when we had gone so far as to elect an African-American President. Someone had to explain it to me. Then I knew better.
After the shooting in Ferguson MO, when the news suddenly filled up with reports of African-Americans being killed in police custody (and then the police getting away with it), I thought, "What's going on? Is this something new, or had we just not had the technology to see so much of it before?" At least by that point I was beginning to suspect my own ignorance, but I still needed someone to confirm it.
Most of the people who voted to Make America Great Again are not racists, or at least they don't think of themselves that way. Many are, to be sure, but most see themselves as ordinary people. They're ignorant of the power structures that been built up over the history of this country. They don't see how the system looks to people who don't have their place in it.
In Rochester Indiana, there are various historical markers on the grounds of the Fulton County Courthouse. One of them is a memorial to the citizens who harbored fugitive slaves in the days of the Underground Railroad. See? They're not racist in Rochester. They supported African-Americans in the past.
And yet, in my visit of almost 72 hours this week, the only people of color I saw were my Asian-American sister-in-law and my two half-Asian nieces. There's no deliberate effort to keep people of color out. They're just not there. That's the way it is.
This is the challenge we face during the Trumpocalypse. We have to confront and resist the overt racism, sexism, etc. in the government and in the public, yes, but we can't treat every Trump supporter like they've got a white hood in their closet. The problem is more complicated than that. It's more nuanced. When you try to engage someone on the issues, you can't just hit them all with everything you've got. A lot of people won't understand what you're talking about. For example, if you talk about "white privilege," some will interpret that as meaning you think "all white people have it easy." And if they themselves don't "have it easy," then white privilege can't exist, right? They won't start to understand until you can get across what the system looks like to people other than themselves. Push too hard, and they'll see you as just another liberal city-slicker try to impose un-American values on them, and at that point the conversation is over.
I've started to see posts online by liberals declaring that they're sick of being nice and playing by the rules, suggesting they should adopt the right-wing's tactics and force their way into power. And once they've done that, the "sheeple" will see all the benefits of social democracy and thank the liberals for saving them. Nothing could be further from the truth. It will just be the next turn of the cycle. The right-wing will start calling itself "the Resistance," the Republicans will be the ones trying to block everything in Congress, and on and on we go.
A few months ago, I realized that Bernie Sanders would have been a better Democratic candidate than Hillary Clinton - but I still think he would have been a frustrated and ineffective President. His movement doesn't yet have the political infrastructure needed to make real change happen. That's where Progressives need to concentrate their efforts these days. One town council at a time, one legislative seat at a time, one mayor's or governor's office at a time. Changing the country needs to be built slowly from the bottom up, not imposed by a coup at the top. And that means the people need to be convinced one at a time, not have "what's good for them" imposed from on high.
In the wake of the election, I didn't want to come back to the Midwest ever again. I think I need to, though. I need to stay in touch with "the other side," the other half of "us." They are not all screaming white supremacists, burning crosses and brandishing nooses. You need to remember the "ordinary" people living behind the line of screaming maniacs. They're the ones who will ultimately make the difference.
When I first got the idea for my book, Unswept Graves, I thought Asian immigrants to the US had experienced more or less the same things as European immigrants. I assumed they came here for the same reasons, dreamed the same dreams, and overcome the same challenges. Then I started researching and discovered the truth, that they had faced hostility and government-sanctioned prejudice. Then I knew better.
When the Black Lives Matter movement first started, I too wondered, "Don't all lives matter? Why do we have to single out black lives?" I hadn't realized just how different the African-American experience of this country is, even in an age when we had gone so far as to elect an African-American President. Someone had to explain it to me. Then I knew better.
After the shooting in Ferguson MO, when the news suddenly filled up with reports of African-Americans being killed in police custody (and then the police getting away with it), I thought, "What's going on? Is this something new, or had we just not had the technology to see so much of it before?" At least by that point I was beginning to suspect my own ignorance, but I still needed someone to confirm it.
Most of the people who voted to Make America Great Again are not racists, or at least they don't think of themselves that way. Many are, to be sure, but most see themselves as ordinary people. They're ignorant of the power structures that been built up over the history of this country. They don't see how the system looks to people who don't have their place in it.
In Rochester Indiana, there are various historical markers on the grounds of the Fulton County Courthouse. One of them is a memorial to the citizens who harbored fugitive slaves in the days of the Underground Railroad. See? They're not racist in Rochester. They supported African-Americans in the past.
And yet, in my visit of almost 72 hours this week, the only people of color I saw were my Asian-American sister-in-law and my two half-Asian nieces. There's no deliberate effort to keep people of color out. They're just not there. That's the way it is.
This is the challenge we face during the Trumpocalypse. We have to confront and resist the overt racism, sexism, etc. in the government and in the public, yes, but we can't treat every Trump supporter like they've got a white hood in their closet. The problem is more complicated than that. It's more nuanced. When you try to engage someone on the issues, you can't just hit them all with everything you've got. A lot of people won't understand what you're talking about. For example, if you talk about "white privilege," some will interpret that as meaning you think "all white people have it easy." And if they themselves don't "have it easy," then white privilege can't exist, right? They won't start to understand until you can get across what the system looks like to people other than themselves. Push too hard, and they'll see you as just another liberal city-slicker try to impose un-American values on them, and at that point the conversation is over.
I've started to see posts online by liberals declaring that they're sick of being nice and playing by the rules, suggesting they should adopt the right-wing's tactics and force their way into power. And once they've done that, the "sheeple" will see all the benefits of social democracy and thank the liberals for saving them. Nothing could be further from the truth. It will just be the next turn of the cycle. The right-wing will start calling itself "the Resistance," the Republicans will be the ones trying to block everything in Congress, and on and on we go.
A few months ago, I realized that Bernie Sanders would have been a better Democratic candidate than Hillary Clinton - but I still think he would have been a frustrated and ineffective President. His movement doesn't yet have the political infrastructure needed to make real change happen. That's where Progressives need to concentrate their efforts these days. One town council at a time, one legislative seat at a time, one mayor's or governor's office at a time. Changing the country needs to be built slowly from the bottom up, not imposed by a coup at the top. And that means the people need to be convinced one at a time, not have "what's good for them" imposed from on high.
In the wake of the election, I didn't want to come back to the Midwest ever again. I think I need to, though. I need to stay in touch with "the other side," the other half of "us." They are not all screaming white supremacists, burning crosses and brandishing nooses. You need to remember the "ordinary" people living behind the line of screaming maniacs. They're the ones who will ultimately make the difference.
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