All In The Family

Family and politics rarely make a good combination but social media offers the opportunity to mix the two sometimes deliberately and sometimes inadvertently. 

In the wake of Charlottesville, I saw a Facebook post from two of my own that made me wonder, if the gap is so big between us, how can we hope to engage with people we don't have a deep affection for to try and mend the divide that separates us? Disagreements between family typically become personal quickly due to the emotional ties. Maybe it is easier with strangers but then again, without the emotional ties, people are easier to dismiss.

Social media has certainly made it easier to find and align with like minded people. It can bring together people with shared interest and experience from points near and far.  That's good but it's also bad in that it self sorts out diversity. The video shared in the post referenced above features a woman sharing a perspective on race based on what she says is her own experience. 

Looking through the comments, those that like the video lack both racial diversity or difference in insight on why it resonates with them. That in of itself should be a flag for anyone that hit the "like" button. Any take on racism that only a bunch of white people like does nothing to advance the conversation around racism. In fact, race isn't even the point of this video, the message is to promote the mainstream media as purveyors of fake news. It actually shoves aside, devaluing, the conversation around racism to make that claim about the media. No wonder a bunch of conservative white people like it, mainstream media bashing is an issue they really care about.

Sure, there are some that will miss that seemingly blunt overtone and infer a black woman said they are not racists. That's too is not absolution.

When things matter - and fighting racism matters - we need to question, validate, and hold each other accountable. Those that "liked" this video didn't do that. The host opens with some selective facts about race violence, then throws out a number about active hate group members that is not based in fact, and finally delivers her intended message that racism is a fabrication of the media.

I could fact check the farcical argument and take apart this video sentence by sentence but that isn't the point. It's unlikely by doing so I'm going to convince anyone that liked the video the message it contained is wrong. What I'm asking for is those that liked this video to be open to doing that work themselves. I'm asking them to willingly challenge their beliefs, validate them with fact, see if they stand up, and hold themselves accountable. I am not asking they do something I'm unwilling to do.

Agreeing with an opinion doesn't make that opinion fact. Disagreeing with a news story doesn't make that story fake news. Somewhere on Facebook, Twitter, and family rooms around the country those truths have become lost. Let's find them as a first step in bridging the divide.

What is Wrong with White People?

One of the saddest parts of American history is that racism is as old as the Constitution. Actively, the white supremacist movement embodied by the Ku Klux Klan has existed for more than a century. It's an ugly side of American culture damaging to the spirit of the country. Many assume it operates on the fringe. That's simply not true for anyone that is a target of the hate the movement dispenses. Yesterday, that hate became visible to all, thriving, not on the fringe, but on American streets. Most worrisome, this hate is feeding off the mainstream through complicit politicians and angry white voters. 

Charlottesville is a tragedy and the white supremacist movement is domestic terrorism. Thirty two year old Heather Heyer was murdered standing up to hate. Two police officers died in a helicopter crash while en route the scene and dozens were injured in protests sparked over the city's desire to remove a statue of a racist. Robert E. Lee, the man depicted in the statue, may have been a lot of things, including a brilliant general, but fundamentally he was a racist. 

Some have declared the statue's removal an attempt to erase parts of history. Lee should not be erased from history but his legacy is fighting to preserve an institution condoning ownership of human beings. While there is some poetic justice in Lee's likeness being covered in pigeon droppings it's unimaginable a statue of the general is appropriate outside a museum surrounded by appropriate historical context. The monument in Emancipation Park was erected decades after the civil war, without context, arguably in an attempt to resurrect symbols of the confederacy.

Despite a terrorist attack taking place in an American city yesterday, President Donald Trump demonstrated shocking indifference to the tragedy in Virginia. He has yet to condemn white supremacy by name saying, "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides." 

On many sides? No sir, there was hatred, bigotry, and violence on one side. And that side has been on the wrong side of history for over 100 years. That side murdered Heather Heyer. That side also endorsed you, Mr. President, as the agent of change for hate.  

Former KKK leader David Duke said the following, "This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back, we're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump, and that's what we believed in, that's why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he's going to take our country back and that's what we gotta do."

Despite that statement, the President cannot bring himself to condemn white supremacy. It's a pattern. Trump would not condemn Duke or the KKK during the campaign despite being pressed on national television. That doesn't leave a lot of room for conclusions other than Trump is complicit with racism, if not an out right racist. Yet Trump continues to enjoy support from a largely white, GOP base.

This brings us to a fundamental question. What is wrong with white people? In what world do they think they are oppressed? Why are they so angry? White people make up the majority of American government. In fact, they make up seventy eight percent of the U.S. House and ninety percent of the Senate. The overwhelming majority of state legislatures are also white.

The answer is they've voted for the wrong white people. They keep returning people to government that consistently act against their own interests. Maybe white people should try non-white people in government at all levels. Then things might change. Those who have been truly oppressed might use that experience to empathetically focus on the real issues dividing the classes.

But in the here and now it's time to draw the line. We must fight hate and racism inside and outside the White House. The white supremacists have exercised their first amendment rights. They say they stand with Trump. They will be accountable for their words and face the legal consequences of their actions. Those of us that stand against them must stand against Trump for his complicity. 

There is no more room to support Trump and also claim not to support bigotry and hate. Trump himself left you no choice. There are no "many sides" to this one. There are two. Right and and wrong. Trump supporters, you need to choose, not pick and choose when the stakes are so high. Stick with Trump, or not, but stop lying about your true beliefs if you stand with a man that cannot condemn hate.