No More Hiding

Over the last week, while not in a comatose state or gliding through the day encompassed in a cloud of disappointment and silent rage, I began to obsessively scroll through Twitter. 

At first, it was a way to feel good about the massive amounts of people who were just as pissed as I was and voicing their collective disdain for the president. Then I began to parse through replies that were, plainly, devoid of logic. As I mentioned in an earlier post and more recently, I’m at a loss of how so much of this nation can be blinded by someone who’s entire campaign has been nothing but an unapologetic attack on people of color, LGBTQ communities, women, and really anyone who isn’t rich. His executive orders reflect this alarming dismissal of humanity and what I was hoping would be a four year stint of hotheaded talk and no action is starting to look like an impending, inevitable hellscape. I should rephrase that, I was never really at a loss, because that’s just naive. I’m more appalled and overwhelmingly frustrated.

The upside is there has been so much unity as a result of this common fury spawned by an unwieldy emotionally disturbed, leathery man-child, but there’s also been an intense, palpable division of the people who voted for Trump and those who didn’t. I’m starting to think this separation is not necessarily a bad thing, but something to be considered as we move forward as a country and figure out ways to heal the gaping wound this celebrity villain has exacerbated. 

I, for one, would like to know how this can happen. Healing. I’ve written about it before - this seething hatred or prejudice or what have you that prevents the acceptance of reality and promotes the belief in “alternative facts” and justifies shiftlessly falling behind grandstanding human dumpster fires. It’s either this, or other individuals simply don’t care about anything except the bottom line, so their allegiance to the country won’t go beyond their pockets. How do we get these obdurate and uncompromising rednecks people to see that what this man is doing is not only hurting every American, including themselves, but can potentially (and has already) hurt the rest of the world? It enrages me how stubborn people are. Not to mention exhausting to see these arguments defending this pool of orange bile.

Which brings me back to the glaring division, that may not necessarily be a bad thing. I mean, opposition is how we got to this place of mobilizing and organizing against the dark lord enemy administration. And it does add fuel to the fire when you see positively outrageous actions and claims made by the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD. I dunno, something like possibly launching an investigation into “all the illegal votes” that must’ve been cast, since the Orange Wonder didn’t win the popular vote, or, I dunno, talking about the inaugural crowds in front of a CIA memorial and just weeks before comparing them to Nazis. 

It is no mistake that we’re living under unprecedented rule and every day has the potential to be been more heinous than the last and this division is causing tension, but in the grand scheme, it’s also helping sculpt our future (if there even is going to be one at this point), in a way that hasn’t been done in a very long time. More than ever, citizens are becoming involved with the political process and the dream the forefathers had for the US is coming into fruition (kind of- ya know, cuz most of them were slave owners and mega racist). The division is what’s making people pick up phones, donate money to great causes, and volunteer for amazing organizations. No one is letting anything dubious Tiny Hands does go unchecked. Our society is slowly but surely becoming more “woke.”

My only real worry about the division in this country is on a more granular level, in friendships and families, among classmates and coworkers. The division gets uncomfortable and hard to maneuver when in such close proximities. Obviously, people aren’t so uncivilized they can’t share a space with someone who has completely different views than the other, but seeing your coworker casually peruse Breitbart or mention their excitement for the Cheeto’s “next big decision” can be downright tough or ya know, the opposite. I have no idea what annoys the other side besides facts and logic. Hm, probably me saying that. 

So even if Timmy-talkative the co-worker and crazy-Aunt Jane are baffling loyal Trump supporters, the majority of the country is on your side. Proud, self-proclaimed ‘deplorables,’ and others continuing to avidly support this scary regime help everyone else identify those who won’t fight for the freedom of their countrymen and would gladly step on the backs of their neighbors for a little bit of prosperity. It’s good to know. There’s no more hiding. 

**Note** I posted this a few days ago, but thought it was a little too harsh. Then the next few days happened and now IDGAF. Plus, it’s Black History Month, so I’m not going to silence myself to make people comfortable. Even though I have very strong feelings about this 'celebration,’ as I feel it’s a direct insult to my culture and heritage because black history is and forever will be apart of American history, it’s still important to remember all of the people who came before me and refused to be silent or compromise their ideals for a society that continues to be unjust to POC.

Locker Room Talk

This year has seriously been one full of surprises, most of them horrible and fatal. This year for America has brought to light some very serious issues that have been coursing through the veins of this country, mostly undetected by the mainstream media. However, with the way information is disseminated nowadays, it’s impossible for these problems to continue going unchecked in a vacuum. There has been an unprecedented conversation happening now about race relations and violence, the blistering effects of debt and rising tuition costs, and the exposure of rape culture and how it’s manifested in so many different daily occurrences. 

The latter is my focus for today’s post, as I am simply at a loss that a “presidential” asshole hopeful who has unapologetically spewed hatred for the past year and a half STILL has this steadfast crazy base that is now defending his deplorable view of women. After the tape was released of him saying things that, let’s face it, aren’t all that staggering considering his track record. So okay, it’s not that his super fans are defending him, it’s that the women who are diehards seem to be unwavered by his words. This is so worrisome on so many levels. More specifically how he’s being defended and how he chose to defend himself by saying more or less everyone talks like that. “Locker room talk” is not an excuse for boasting about sexual assault. It has opened up this Pandora’s Box of how a part of this country responds to unacceptable treatment of women, because they feel this kind of talk is okay as long as it’s behind closed doors, in “locker rooms.”

Speaking with such gusto about that kind of disrespect is indicative of how you feel about women, it’s not a separate occurrence. There’s something so abhorrent about the idea it’s okay to objectify women as long as they don’t ever know about it. Also, the way republican men responded to the video, first mentioning that they all had mothers (DUH) and wives and daughters as if not having these women in your life would make you unable to understand the pure chauvinism in the words Trump used. Don’t get me started about Billy Bush’s cackling and him insisting on getting a hug from the celebrity woman they met off the bus. Freaking so disgusting. Gives me the creeps. It reminds me of those times when I’m at the bar and I overhear dudes talking amongst each other about women around them. They go over their “game plan” on how they’re going to get the girl to talk to them and it’s never with something simple, like saying freaking hi. It’s always something weird and creepy, like, “dude you bump into her…” like they’re the Harlem Globetrotters of hitting on women. It’s ridiculous. 

The silver lining of this horrendous leak is the fact that we’re addressing the misogyny that has become all to familiar and normalized. 

No more. It’s time to take responsibility for the way you talk about women, men. IT’S TIME.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR BRAIN?!

The ignorance, the selfishness, the plain inability to be empathetic and understanding. If you don’t understand the movement, the sentiment, behind Black Lives Matter you are not fit to involve yourself in any conversations about it. Your opinion isn’t helping. You’re not convincing anyone with your inept arguments. The only thing you are doing is expressing your intense disapproval of equality and progress. When you say, “All Lives Matter,” you’re neglecting a history of blatant violence, current systemic racism, and ignoring a plea to society for the equal treatment of black lives. I’m not sure how may times we have to say, Black Lives Matter does NOT mean, nobody else’s lives matter. What it means is there has been an unbalanced injustice in the black community, and this statement is calling attention to it. It doesn’t literally mean ONLY BLACK LIVES MATTER. YOU ARE ADDING IN WORDS. What I want to understand is why you can’t admit that you’re refusal to understand the movement is an implicit indication of racism or racist tendencies? Think about it. What other reason is keeping you from even reading about the plight of black people in America. What other reason is preventing you from sympathizing with the countless families who have lost wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, GRANDPARENTS, friends. What other possible reason can there be except you don’t think their black lives are more important than “police procedure,” which let’s get this straight, is obviously, perpetually being broken, shattered, tossed aside. 

That’s what it sounds like when you tell black people that the reason the police are shooting us is because we’re doing something “wrong,” we’re “not complying with the police,” or my favorite, “look like criminals.” If you don’t want to accept the fact you’re inherently racist, at least accept the fact that your prejudice is so astounding, that in all of your efforts you prove that you don’t believe “All Lives Matter” because you have zero compassion for those black people who lost theirs. I don’t understand why you get upset when people call you racist, yet you continue to exhibit racist behavior? It’s like you’re someone who’s afraid of heights, but won’t admit it and instead tell people, I just don’t want to be too far from the ground. JUST ADMIT IT. 

The thing is, you won’t, because you have no desire to change. You think everyone is out to get you and take away your rights, when in reality, we’re all just fighting to have the same rights. You won’t admit your fault because the term PC is bewilderingly offensive to you and the thought of being mindful of others’ feelings and concerns personally peeves to you. Instead of looking to figure out the stem of this discontent, you would rather relish in the rhetoric of a narcissistic megalomaniac who is hellbent on entrenching within this country homophobic, racist, and xenophobic polices that you wholeheartedly support. What made you so hateful and so angry that the thought of helping your fellow man or witnessing a weary outcry of a beleaguered community enrages you to the point where you leave comments like this on Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page:

Tom Bearman Lent  - Sade black lives matter does revolve around white people. Because within the context of BLM black lives only matter when a black person is killed by a white person. BLM doesn’t care about black on black,black on Hispanic or any other combination. You guys protest the vaugest of shut and use it as an excuse to attack white people.

Maximillian Shen As an Asian American, I see BLM being very similar to a domestic terrorist organization (disrupting others’ lives, threatening to kill non-blacks, etc.) Guess I will avoid Ben & Jerry’s for a while.

Jonathan Barclay I agree there is a problem. But when BLM openly advocates the murder of police officers then your movement lost all credibility. Like the KKK they are a terrorist organization. And your support of them causes me to now refuse to buy my favorite ice cream. I support accountability. FOR EVERYONE!

Jon Michael Necaise I will not be buying your products again since you support a extremely racist terror group who calls for the death of all white people and police. Fuck you Ben & Jerry’s

I’M SO TIRED.

*This post is not just for non-POC, but for anyone who feels the BLM movement is offensive.

Why Trump Is So Scary & The Affect of Words

Trump’s scary because he uses people’s fears and horrible racial prejudices to further his questionable agenda. Honestly, it’s hard to tell whether Trump seriously believes what he’s saying or is just pandering to the overtly racist fanbase he’s developed that has a downright insane allegiance. Just like I can’t tell whether or not Ann Coulter is a human or a cyborg sent to divide and destroy humanity.

The way he uses language to excite his crowds is expert, reminiscent of mob rowdiness or scary football hooligans. He never uses words too big like, “bipartisanship” or “cultural tolerance,” but breaks extremely complex ideas down into simple sentences, negating nuances of certain topics, like war and homeland security. There is this distinct “us vs. them” mentality perpetuated at his rallies and embraced by his followers.

There’s seemingly no room for logic when you see and hear divisive statements like:

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. … And some, I assume, are good people.

Our great African American President hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore! (Twitter)

These are basically statements people say behind closed doors to their like-minded cronies, but are now made very public and given an international platform. Now, others who would have otherwise kept their embarrassing sentiments to themselves now feel confident in their ignorance, because, let’s face it, there’s strength in numbers. It doesn’t matter if these numbers are comprised of exasperated bigots.

Trump happily represents them because he knows they will vote for him. He knows the more divisive and pigheaded he is, the more popular he will become, because he’s attracting the masses of people who believe the reason for all the world’s turmoil rests on the shoulders of individuals who don’t look like them. Trump cradles the hearts of people who don’t understand the term tolerance, the people who happily dismiss facts to support flagrantly racist ideals, and the people who feel they have been “abandoned” by the “liberal” government. However, I usually don’t like making blanket statements like that because there are always exceptions, people who don’t fall into the bigoted mold Trump has created. I understand people are entitled to their own opinions and maybe there are other aspects of the Trump campaign that are appealing to less insane individuals, but honestly I haven’t heard anything from that camp that I would consider diplomatic or remotely beneficial to America as a whole.

What scares me more is they way he sees international affairs. This “us vs. them” rhetoric is nothing but detrimental to this nation that has so much healing and learning to do. In this world of misrepresentation and fear, Trump’s doing little to nothing to allay tensions. Him calling Obama a Muslim, as if being Muslim is something to be ashamed of, is downright horrifying when presented in the context of international relations.

The “us vs. them,” plainly, hate speech, is causing violent problems that the Trump campaign chalks up to “passion.” The events at his rally where a protestor was “passionately” beat up is a reminder of how powerful words can be and how careful these leaders need to be with their parlance.  It’s this kind of justification that rationalizes violence which is just unacceptable. And though I hate to say it, it’s indicative of the crowd he’s attracted as well.

Honestly, if anyone can give me a reason why this man should be anywhere near the White House I would be surprised I would really appreciate it. I just don’t see anything good from him being in office and can’t understand why anyone would. Ok, I understand it but that doesn’t make it any less disheartening to know there are thousands, if not millions, of people with these cray cray beliefs.

**edit: I wrote this last week before he came out with another outwardly outrageously hateful proposition to ban all Muslims from entering the US. Now, I’m actually beyond disbelief and I thought I had an idea of how ugly it could get, but I was wrong.