Burning Walls, Building Bridges: Voter Disenfranchisement

I normally do these posts every other week, but with the news this past week of various voter disenfranchisement coming to light in places like North Dakota and Georgia, I thought I would do a "special edition." Or maybe it's more of an "emergency edition." With the election less than a month away, we all need to know as much as we can about voter disenfranchisement and what is has to do with racism in this country.

Changing the rules to ensure that only one group of people (white Republicans) can vote and remain in power, is the very literal definition of institutional racism. Add to this, when other white people choose not to fight against it, they are aiding in the maintaining of institutional racism. Sorry if that sound harsh or guilt-trippy, but it's the truth. Even if white people are good, kind people, they can and usually are, racist in the sense that they don't mind living in a racist system. It works for us. I don't have to worry about my vote being purged from the system. I'm a white Democrat voter in Seattle. We're all pretty much white Democrats here, so it's all good. But the entire nation isn't comprised like that. Much of the country is comprise of white Republicans, and as the discussion is ongoing since the Weepy McDrunkface Kavanaugh confirmation, Republicans seem to be fans of using cheating, bending the rules, or doing literally anything it takes to remain in power, while the Democrats are debating what level of "dirty" fighting we should engage in to combat it.

Maybe this is how I "fight dirty". I call out people on things I would normally hold myself back on. It's not polite to tell somebody they're racist or a bad person for trying to cheat the system to remain in power, right? I might hurt somebody's feelings, and they're probably generally a good person as long as you ignore the racism part. But compared to the cheater, is it really all that rude? Isn't it rude of me not to point it out? It's definitely helping to maintain a racist system not to...So, no more sitting back and thinking, wow that sucks, but what can I do? I might not be able to fix the country and make it more fair for everybody, but I can at least use my words to put together a blog post to express my fury over the situation.

I have two thoughts for how to combat voter disenfranchisement, but no way to enact them. First: I think all states should move to a mail-in ballot system like my state has. It makes it stupid easy to vote, and voting should be stupid easy to do. This of course is probably why some states don't want to do this. It makes it more difficult to find ways to disenfranchise voters when you don't have the chance to turn them away at the polling places and can see what color their skin is. Second: I think activists need to organize a system where we can donate money to give to people in places with ID laws. When a person would otherwise lose their ability to vote because they can't afford an ID or the time it takes to get it or the transportation to get to the DMV, then this organization would provide money to pay for it. And/or help arrange for transport for the person as well. If we have to play the cheaters' game while we work on legal means to undo their unethical laws, then I think we should. If anybody out there knows how to make this happen, please do so!

I don't really know how to make the voting system more fair for everybody. I don't know how to make people care about others enough to get them to do the right thing. All I can do is help amplify people who have studied this more than I have or have been victimized by it. So that's what I'm going to do today. I am going to put links to articles that explain all of this better than I can.

Article 1
This ACLU article from last month gives information on the disenfranchisement in Georgia that we heard so much about this past week. Read about the tactics the state is using to "follow" the rules while working to maximize the people disenfranchised.

Article 2
A two-year old article from The Root explains various forms of voter suppression and how to combat them. Sadly, the article is still completely relevant today.

Article 3
Here's an article from July of this year with even more ideas on how to fight voter suppression.

Article 4
Here's one from the Washington Post in 2014 with ideas on how to reduce voter fraud while increasing voter participation as well. I'm not sure I agree with the premise of this article and I think it comes from a very white-privileged place, but there are some good ideas in it, regardless. Just go into it knowing it's coming from a privileged place.

Article 5
This has good information for people who have been disenfranchised to be able to vote next month. If you or somebody you know is dealing with this, please share this information with them.

Article 6
This is a very old article, but it's still relevant today. Disenfranchisement of felons in this country might not be racially-motivated in a technical sense, but the people convicted of felonies in this country is definitely racially-motivated. It's time to change the rules.

Article 7
Another article about felony disenfranchisement from May of this year. There are some very compelling reasons listed as to why we should reconsider this practice and reinstate these people's right to vote.

I think one thing that's important to remember is that since there are so many people who will be unable to vote in this next election, those of us who have not been disenfranchised have an obligation to exercise our right to vote. Vote for the people who aren't allowed to. Vote so that the right people can be elected who will do something about this. And we continue to protest and speak out and talk about it. We demand that our elected officials care enough to do something about it. We expect our elected officials to create laws to protect voters and if they refuse, then they no longer get our votes. We fight, however we can so that one day, we really can be a democracy in this country.

Burning Walls, Building Bridges: Colin Kaepernick

Burning Walls, Building Bridges: My journey to learning about what institutional racism is, and how to help dismantle it.

Welcome to the first of a new series on combating institutional racism in the United States! I hope this will be a good chance for all of us who are hoping to help make a change in this country, to figure out the best way to go about it. Since this is the intro post, I will explain what I think is the most helpful way to engage in this issue, and also tell you a little bit about myself. My hope is that this will spark a dialog about the issues that we can all come away from a little more enlightened about.

The "Rules": Obviously any and all people are welcome to read and participate in this, but I am assuming that most people reading this will be white. As a white person living in this country, I can see how segregated we still are in our lives and acknowledge that most of the people in my life, who will have access to this blog, are also white. Because of this, we all come from a place of privilege but may be in different places of realizing and acknowledging it. My hope is to create a safe place for people to ask questions or comment on things without having to worry about being judged for it. One of the things white people who are further along on their journey of dismantling racism in their lives tend to do is rely on self righteousness to make sure they feel better about themselves. "I'm woke, so I'm good, but look at what that white person just said! Let's destroy him so that I can keep showing others just how woke I am." It becomes the "I'm the most non racist person" contest and it doesn't resolve anything. If anything, it makes the problem worse and it plays into our own insecurities. We stop growing when all we do is accuse others of being worse than we are. So, that stops here! No more of that! Unless you make a comment that is blatantly and unapologetically racist, I will do my best to never attack you or respond in anger and I ask anybody else following this blog and commenting, to do the same.

The Format: I will try to do a post every other weekend or so, depending on where I am in reading books and articles on this subject. I would like this project to be sustained over time and I have to tendency to do too much too soon and get burned out. 

About Me: I am a liberal woman from Seattle. I'm 40 years old. I don't post where I work online so I won't be sharing that information here, but it is a place that works for the public in a non-profit setting. I identify as "whitish". What in the world is that, you are probably asking me right now. I am white, that is how I look, that is how society sees me. I have been granted full white privilege. However, I actually have a small (2.5%) amount of African DNA in the two DNA tests I have taken. This confirmed what I had suspected based on my research over the past several years. While I acknowledge that I have no place in today's black communities in this country, and I would never try to worm my way into them(see Rachel Dolezal for an example), I know that I have black ancestry in my history. I have chosen, unlike other white people who choose to ignore it, to embrace it. I do not share a present with today's black communities, but I do share part of a past. And because of that, things like white privilege stand out a lot to me. The arbitrary nature of how it's assigned, I feel that very sharply. How can I not? And certain issues hit me on a more personal level now than they did before, even if they still don't actually affect me or my life. So, I decided that instead of ignoring my history, I could embrace it and use my white privilege to reach out to other white people in hopes of helping us as a community to move forward in how we handle racism.

And now, a definition: Racism. We prickle at this word when it comes up in conversation or is used in relation to us. We don't hate anybody! We don't even see color! We're colorblind. We don't actively try to keep anybody else down, so how can I be racist? Not all white people are racist!-Which translates to, other white people might be racist, but I'm not, so make sure to acknowledge that when you talk about racism in this country. I am exempt. The problem is, racism doesn't mean what we think it means. Even though the dictionary defines racism as more of the hatred and active oppression of people, the meaning has changed to now mean a person who benefits from living within a system meant to benefit one group of people over another group of people. What we think of as racism would really fall under the category of prejudice.

Here's a good article about the definition of racism. And I would highly encourage you to read the comments on this article to see the kinds of things people of color have to deal with in order to point out racism to white people. White people can be incredibly angry and defensive when they are told that they benefit from a racist system. It isn't the job of people of color to teach white people about their racism, and most of those who do take the time to point it out, get attacked. This is one way we can take on fighting all levels of racism, by taking on those hostile white people ourselves.

This Week's Topic: Colin Kaepernick's Thwarted Message
Because I'm just starting out and I haven't read any books yet, my topic is something that has been in the hearts and minds of a lot of Americans since it started in 2016 and had resurfaced when Kaepernick teamed up with Nike for an ad campaign that began last week.

(Source)

Here is a timeline of Kaepernick's first year of protesting police brutality and racial inequity in this nation's justice system, and people's reactions to it. When it first started, nobody really knew what to make of it, but when he started gaining national attention, people began finding reasons to disagree with it. The one that stuck, though, was the idea that sitting during the anthem, or even taking a knee, was somehow disrespectful to the military. Conservatives and conservative news sources latched onto this idea and used it to change the conversation from police brutality and inequity in the justice system, to one of who has the right to protest and under what conditions protesting was considered acceptable. As liberals and liberal news sources fought back, they further continued the discussion of protesting and how it should be done. The message Kaepernick was trying to promote, was buried and the status quo of inequity has continued unchallenged. The conservatives won this battle, with help from us. White privilege is still very much intact and we can go about our day not worrying about what happens if we get pulled over by the cops or have to go to court for something. Too bad for the people who do have to worry about those things, but we had to stand up for the right to protest, right?

I am not going to debate the merits of Colin Kaepernick and whether or not he is "good enough" of a person or a citizen to be the conveyor of this message. I tend to look at all those arguments as continuing to take away from the discussion of racial inequity in the justice system(notice I'm using that phrase a lot? That's because I'm trying to put the focus back on the message, not the debate on protesting. This is a simple tactic we can use to help move the argument back to where it needs to be.) This issue is something very important to Kaepernick and he has the ability to use his current position to bring awareness to something very wrong in this country, and he is doing it. And since nobody else is really standing up for it, he's the man. He's the one, and he is not standing down. The moment we bog ourselves down in "But he doesn't do this or he did do that, and that makes him not a good enough person to convey this message," we are ending the message. We are saying that we will only support this issue if the person talking about it fits our narrative. We're saying that we're waiting for a more ideal or "model" minority to convey this message and until that happens, we won't have anything to do with whatever the message is. This is what is known as "gatekeeping". It makes the white people who do believe in the message, but don't want to align themselves with the messenger, upholders of the racist status quo. This undoes everything we claim to stand for and only works to make us feel more superior than others.

Here's one thing to keep in mind about him, if you are having issues accepting him as the face and voice of this movement: Do you think he's really happy that he has to be taking this stand at all? Do you think it excites him that his football career has been decimated and that he himself is in danger any time he is pulled over by the cops? That he has to see his own community torn apart by the inequity in this country? I highly doubt it. He probably hates this just as much as the people who hate him for standing up to it. 

So, going forward, if you believe in Colin Kaepernick's message of racial inequity in terms of the police and the justice system in this country, the easiest thing you can do when you hear others talking about it, or see them online, is change the conversation back to that message. When we hear the debate going on about protesting and taking a knee during the anthem and being respectful towards the military, take it back to the original message. Don't fall for those red herrings. We're only upholding a racist system by doing do.

Does anybody have any thoughts or questions about this? If you have suggestions on books or articles I should read about institutional racism, please share them with me. And if you have any thoughts on a particular institution or industry that we should explore in depth to see how racism affects it, please let me know those too. I have a list going but I'm sure it's hardly comprehensive. I am currently reading a book that I hope to finish and talk about in the next post. So, until then, keep fighting the fight for equity!
-Summer

Enough is Enough

"Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say 'No, you move'."--Sharon Carter, Captain America: Civil War

When I was a fifteen year old sophomore at Ballard High School, there was a shooting. It was a nice, warm spring afternoon, blue sky, and the classrooms had their windows open. I believe I was in my English class. We heard the gunshots coming from outside but couldn't tell where exactly they had come from. *Pop pop pop pop pop* We all stopped and looked around, confused, trying to figure out what had happened. None of us had ever heard gunshots before, except in the movies or on tv, but we knew it had been a gun. One of our classmates had left a short time earlier to use the restroom and it became an obsession for us that she return as quickly as possible. When she came back, we breathed a sigh of relief because we were all accounted for. The door remained shut and we all stayed where we were. This was before the time of lockdowns, so every teacher just had to fend for themselves.

At the end of the day, we were allowed to go, but one part of the outside area of the school was cordoned off by the police, and school buses were being rerouted away from it. It turned out that there had been a drive-by shooting and one of the girls outside the school had been shot and killed. 

The girl had been in my history class. It was surreal to have seen her that day in class, but then to not have her there the next day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that. There were no grief counselors, because there was no protocol for this. We just did our best to get through it. For me, it set off a severe depression that lasted about a year. I lost weight. I couldn't sleep. I didn't know what was going on, except thinking I was losing my mind. I hadn't been hurt. I was safe. I got through it. Except of course, I hadn't. And I wasn't safe. And I might not have been physically hurt, but I had been emotionally and mentally hurt. 

Young people aren't supposed to die. We're supposed to be immortal. We don't get shot and die. Except that they do. My classmate did. She was there one day, and dead by the end of the day. And then she wasn't there the next day. Or the next. Or the next. 

While I never experienced a school shooting inside the school walls, I have experienced the loss of a classmate to gun violence. I heard the shots that took her life. And while it might have been a person pulling the trigger, it was definitely a gun that killed her. I know a little of the pain that students experience from school shootings. I know what it is to contemplate your mortality at the age of fifteen. I know the existential crisis it throws you into, and the depression, and not knowing what to do about it. I know that feeling that nothing matters because it's all a waste. I am thirty nine years old and I can put myself right back into those feelings. I feel fear and frustration and anger creeping up inside me right now as I type this post. Like any grief or trauma we may experience in life, we never truly get over it. We just learn how to live with it. It becomes a part of who we are. The scars that make up our lives.

This is the lens through which I see every mass shooting. This is why I support gun control measures. This is why I will always hate guns. This is why I am saying that enough is enough. Because nobody should have to experience that pain or depression or trauma. I am tired of a nation that worships metal idols that demand daily human sacrifices. Enough is enough. 

Like the #MeToo movement, a lot of us have a story to tell about gun violence. I think it's time we started telling it to everybody. Most of us have scars due to gun violence, and it's time to stop covering them up and pretending they don't exist. It's time to expose them for all the world to see. I would encourage everybody to tell your story. Tweet it, blog it, put it on tumblr, post it to Facebook. Tell people in person. Anybody and everybody who will listen. Because I don't know about you, but I'm tired of having to relive this pain with every mass shooting. So, I am owning my pain, and utilizing it as my part in this fight. Never again. We're done. Enough is enough.

What Bothers Me About Black Panther

It’s been in the back of my head this whole time that the hype around Black Panther has been building up. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, though, until I finished reading Hidden Figures, the novel. There’s a passage in the book talking about the black women who worked for NASA, and how they had to be the very best. The highest example of their community. The smartest, the greatest. The idea being that they had to be the best of the best of the best before they would even be acknowledged as adequate by white society. And it hit me, that even in this day and age, we still treat the black community, and any minority or “other” this way.

Black Panther doesn’t get the luxury of adequacy or mediocrity. It has to be the very best. The best Marvel movie ever made. Because otherwise, it doesn’t “deserve” to be made at all. We, as the white audience, will look at it as the standard set for black-led movies, and every other movie with a predominantly black cast will have to meet and probably exceed those expectations. Because if they don’t, they won’t get made again. Case in point: Look up Proud Mary starring Taraji P. Henson and see how it was marketed, if at all, and how it did in the box office. A flawed movie with a black female lead goes nowhere. But if it had been a Scarlett Johansson movie, it probably would have done just fine. And if it had been a Tom Cruise movie, it probably would have been a hit...

Just like Wonder Woman had to be the most amazing superhero(ine) movie ever made just to be considered on par with every other superhero movie ever made, or we’d never get another one in our lifetime. It’s why Captain Marvel has me worried that it won’t live up to what Wonder Woman was. And it’s sad that those two films are automatically pitted against each other because of that. Captain Marvel has to be even better, or that’ll be the end of women-led superhero(ine) movies. The fact that movies like this have to be in competition with each other to win over the white male audience is disturbing and disappointing.

Movies are still viewed through a white, male lens. Even Black Panther, sadly. It has to smash records and break glass ceilings and then when the numbers come back, studio execs will say, “Huh, maybe there is a market for this...” Maybe one day, minority groups and “others” will be afforded the luxury of mediocrity, but that day won’t come for a long time yet. Until then, we need to continue supporting these movies with as much enthusiasm and money as we can in hopes that some day, there will be so much variety, that when a mediocre film comes out that has a predominantly minority or “other” cast, we don’t blink an eye or wonder what’s going wrong with X-led casts. We’ll just move on to the next movie, like we already do with white-led casts.

2017 Election Night

“And so tonight-to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans-I ask for your support.”

 -Richard Nixon, November 3, 1969

Maybe Nixon was right about something. I know you must be thinking I’ve lost my mind to say such a thing about that man, but hear me out. Nixon coined the phrase “silent majority,” a phrase used ever since to describe American politics. The idea being that most Americans go about their business, keeping their politics to themselves, except in the voting booth. (This was of course, well before the advent of social media…) They are a fickle people who don't lean one way more than the other. They are the people who make most of the decisions in this country.

Today’s election, and the results that are coming in tonight, show a shift in the tide. How deep a shift and how long it’ll last is anybody’s guess. But could it be that the Silent Majority has had a year to live with the results of last year’s presidential election and has decided to be silent no longer? Have they quietly watched their fellow Americans being threatened for their religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, and race, and realized that this cannot go on any longer? Have they seen their cities taken over by Nazis and nationalists with tiki torches and swastikas and decided it had to stop? Have they seen the president act petty every time he opens his mouth? The disrespect he’s shown for soldiers and natural disaster victims don’t seem to be warming their hearts.

Does this mean that the majority of Americans in this country really are good people who are horrified by what is going on in this country right now and that we’re all being held hostage by a small minority of terrorists? I like to think so. Or at least I like to hope so.

I don’t care if you stay silent in your words, Silent Majority, as long as you act and vote as loudly as possible. I would hope that the Silent Majority will show up again next year for midterms. We could definitely use their help…even if they do so quietly.

A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

Seventy five years ago today, it was a Sunday. It started off like any other day, but would end up plunging the United States into the world war, two years after it had begun. The nation united as it never had before, and possibly never will again. Their fight lasted four years, and changed America for all time.

I was thinking about this today and trying to make sense of it in terms of today's world. It occurred to me that America's time in the war was the same amount of time as a president's term. I don't know about you, but sometimes it feels like Election Day this year was a date which will live in infamy. For me, I think remembering the Second World War will help me get through the next four years.

The new term that will begin next month, like the war, will bring out the best in us and the worst in us. Like then, it will be the defining moment of our generation. How we treat one another during this time is entirely our choice, and will be what we are remembered for. It will define us as individuals, as a generation, and as a nation in this world, for all of history.

Will we rise up to the reputation of the Greatest Generation? Maybe in an ultimate act of irony, in the new POTUS's goal of "making America great again," he truly will, when we all band together against him and everything he stands for. Let us continue to fight for our rights and those of others. Let us continue to fight for the planet. We will look out for one another when times are tough and dark and it seems like it can't get any worse. We shall rise up and stand arm-in-arm with people who are experiencing hate and discrimination. Let us become the heroes and heroines we long to be. We don't need guns and weapons for this, we just need to be brave, kind, and loving to one another.

Just like the war, everybody has a part to play. There will be plenty of people in need and plenty of organizations that need help in the next four years. We don't have to do all of it, and we really shouldn't burn ourselves out in trying to, but all of us can do some of it. It's going to be scary, it's not going to be fun, but this is our moment. Now it's our turn to be the Greatest Generation.

And in four years, maybe Election Day will be a date which will live in infamy for the man who will be the next POTUS. We will celebrate his last day in office, just as much as we will mourn his first day...

The Blame Game

We have seen images like these a lot over the last year or two. They fill our hearts with sadness and pity for these people. We ask ourselves questions like, "How desperate do you have to be to put your kids on one of those boats, knowing you could all drown before you reach land again?" And of course the answer is, when the alternative is even worse, you will do whatever you have to do, however precarious, however dangerous, to survive. To keep your children safe.

How desperate do you have to be to throw your child onto a helicopter and hope they make it to the Promised Land of America, parted from you forever? When the world is closing in on you, and the end seems near, you will do what is needed to survive.

How desperate do you have to be to put your child onto a train and send them out into the countryside for others to take care of, in hopes that they survive the war, because the bombings are just too close and too often for their safety? You'll do your best to ignore the separation and the pain and anguish it causes, because it'll be worth it in the end when you're reunited. Assuming you survive...

I've heard parents say that they would sell their soul to the devil to keep their children safe. As I don't have kids of my own, I cannot attest to this personally, but I will take their word for it. People will do whatever it takes to make sure their children survive a dangerous situation, and also hopefully, thrive and have a better life than they had. As we are now deeply embroiled in the post-election blame-game, I wanted to point out this factor.

I am going to make what might seem like a radical and unliberal statement, but I ask you to hear me out with an open heart and an open mind. I would hypothesize that the vast majority of people who voted for Donald Trump, are not racists/misogynists/homophobes. The majority of them are desperately in need of help and reached out to the only person who appeared to be offering it.

The economy has mostly recovered from the crash of 2005, except in the middle of the country. The west coast, in particular, is doing very well. It's hard to imagine that it isn't the same everywhere else. For the last eight years, people from the middle of this country have been telling us it's still bad there. They've been yelling and screaming and we've chosen to ignore it. We've heard their issues, but say to ourselves, "That's ridiculous, look how amazing it is now!" We have countered their fears and complaints with statements like, "You just don't like the president because he's black. You're a racist!" but we haven't stuck around to hear the response which probably would be, "I'm not a racist, I'm just trying to put food on the table...Why aren't you helping me?"

A wise coworker of mine pointed out to me the other day, the idea that the unemployment rate is really low right now and in our minds we're thinking, "Wow, we're so great at employment!" When the reality is actually people coming to the end of their benefits and being dropped from the statistics. They still don't have jobs, but now they don't have help from the government as well. If you lived in a place where there were no jobs to be had, and you are now being cut off from the only lifeline that's been helping you survive, what would you do? Picking up everything and moving elsewhere isn't necessarily affordable to people and what kind of a job would you be qualified to have? Liberals like to tease and put down people who are less educated than we are, but that also limits their abilities to have a well-paying job. How dare we tease people who don't have the same opportunities as us? Did any of us ever bother to learn why they have less opportunities to become educated? Did any of us ever help? Or did we just laugh and point, contributing to their continued humiliation? No wonder they hate us. They have every right to.

My personal opinion on the role of the federal government, besides keeping us safe from foreign powers and all the international stuff it does, is to help the people who cannot help themselves. We are ethically and morally obligated to help people when they cannot take care of themselves. For eight years, we've been writing off nearly half the country who have been telling us they need help. Liberals pride themselves on helping the downtrodden, but we missed this group of people in need. We ignored them, willfully and willingly and their need grew more and more until they had no other choice but to accept the offer from the devil. When we should have been acting like a nation that cares about each other, we failed. We failed them and in so doing, we failed in being what liberals pride themselves in being: charitable towards those in need.

This wasn't a problem with Hillary Clinton's planned policies, this was the current administration. This is on the current president, as sad as it makes me feel to say. I love our president, but he is not perfect. This was also the problem of the GOP for not doing more to help, either. Both parties played politics with each other, abandoning their actual duties of getting policies set in place that help people out. And whatever the reasons behind it, whatever the actual reality of it all, is irrelevant, because perception is all that matters. Both sides appeared not to care about the people crying out for help, so they turned to the person who claimed he would help. I'm sure a lot of them are aware that he might have no intentions of making good on any of his promises, but it's better than what they have now. It can't be any worse, right?

Now, I have said that I believe the majority of Trump voters aren't "ists" of any particular sort, and I do actually believe that. I am not unaware, however, that there is a faction of the voters who are. And they are using Trump's invitation to hate openly and outwardly. People are already being attacked and harassed and there are reports that somebody was killed. It is on us to make sure people stay protected during this time. I would also say that it is on the majority of Trump voters, the ones who only voted for him because of the economy, to help as well. A refusal to care about it or a refusal to help is being a part of it. If they choose to do nothing, if they choose not to stand up for others and protest any policies Trump may try to pass that would hurt others, they have a moral and ethical obligation to stand side-by-side with us. Failure to do so will leave them branded as an "ist," and they will have to live with those accusations and words assigned to them. That choice is entirely up to them.

I think, overall, the country is actually moving in the right direction. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and we cannot overlook the importance of that. We are at a place as a nation, as a people, to elect a woman to the highest office in the country. And if you look at a state and city level, there were amazing victories for women, people of color, and members of the LGBT community all around the country. We are doing something right.

What I wish we could see, as a nation, is that economic issues and social rights issues are not mutually exclusive. One does not have to be sacrificed to bolster the other. One party tends to be better at the social rights issues, and one party tends to be better with the economy. We need to come together and get to a place where each party can lend their strength to the country, and move both issues, forward. Once we can do this, we can start to see each other as people again.

For so long, we (By "we," I mean everybody, no particular side. All sides.) have looked to the other side, not as people who have a different opinion from us, but as the enemy. An enemy is no longer a human. They aren't a person. They're an entity to be conquered and destroyed. We don't have to listen to what they have to say. Maybe this is why we spent eight years writing off the screams of desperate people, because we saw them not as humans and fellow Americans, but as an entity that deserved what it got. They deserved to live in squalor and starvation and humiliation, because they are the enemy and that's what you do in a war.

But we aren't in a war. We've forgotten that. It's time we remembered.

We Are All Deplorables

There have been many "watershed" moments in American history over the years. Moments where it seems as if the fate of the country, or even the entire planet, hangs in the balance. Times when it feels like the world has come to a fork in the road and either path taken will change everything forever. The choice is up to us to pick either the "good" path or the "bad" path. Deciding to break away from England and become our own nation, choosing to divide our nation in two and take up arms against one another to resolve the conflict, Pearl Harbor, the Civil Rights movement, 9/11. These were all moments where the world we know now would be vastly different depending on how these ended. This election is also one of those moments. History will judge us based on the outcome of this election. And how can it not? Our future will be shaped by it, after all.

We can all feel this. We can sense it. The heaviness in the air that seeps into our skin and permeates our brains and souls. It makes it difficult to concentrate on anything else, and it becomes nearly or actually, an obsession. It takes over everything. It has taken over our minds. Things we would never do under normal circumstances, feel normal to us now. Treating people in ways we would never dream of before, is now par for the course. I think we need to be reminded that civility, good manners, and being kind to each other has always been our choice and always will be. Regardless of who becomes our next president, nobody can take that away from us. The only one who takes that way from us, is ourselves. No presidential candidate made us do it. They might have started down that road, but we fully and willingly followed behind without questioning it. 

We have said to ourselves, Well, it was the other side who started it, so I might as well dive right in and fight fire with fire. It isn't just "them,"(whatever side 'them' is to you) who have become so rude. It is all of us. You, me, everybody. We have all become the deplorables. Some of the rudest words I have seen in this election have come from people inside one party, towards others within their own party. We aren't just disagreeing with another party, we are disagreeing with one another, and we are being vicious and cruel. Feelings have been hurt. Friendships have been damaged or ended. Family members have turned away from each other all because we disagree on the best way to move forward as a nation.

How many of us has wished somebody ill will during this election? Either a candidate, somebody online, or somebody in our own lives? How many of us have called somebody stupid or otherwise questioned people's intelligence? How many of us have questioned somebody's loyalty to this country? How many of us have had these things said about or questioned of us? It doesn't feel very good, does it? We've all created a lot of negative energy, not only in our own lives, but in the country, and the world. We owe it to ourselves and each other, to do better. To be better. To create positive change and energy for our world. The question is, can we do that without screaming at each other and tearing each other down?

For those of us who consider ourselves followers of Christ, we are supposed to follow his example. It isn't "politically correct" or weak to be kind to one another, it is literally "What Jesus Would Do." The concept of "grace" is one of the things that makes Jesus unique. We are forgiven, through God's grace, though none of us truly deserves it. It is a gift given freely to us anyway. Are any of us truly acting grace-filled during this election? Are we extending that grace to others? What are we becoming?

I can assure you, that regardless of who wins the election tomorrow, the sun will continue to rise and set, as it always has. Our money will still be in the bank. Our beds will be just as cozy and warm as they are tonight. For the most part, our days and nights will continue on as they always have, with very little interruptions. But soon, that fog we've found ourselves in, will dissipate. We will find ourselves having to look ourselves in the mirror and looking at each other. Can we live with the words we said or the actions we took? Can we mend family bonds and friendships that have been damaged? Only time will tell. But the choice is ours. It has always been ours.

I will end this with two of my favorite quotes. I have used them before, but I won't stop using them, because they sum everything up so perfectly:

"Turns out, real life is a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means―hey, glass half full!―we all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try...Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us."-Judy Hopps, Zootopia

"Have courage, and be kind."-Cinderella

An Open Letter to Senators Clinton and Sanders

“Wherever we go, whatever we do, we're gonna go through it together…”-Together Wherever We Go, Gypsy

Dear Secretary of State Clinton and Senator Sanders, 

It’s been a very long, very contentious road to the DNC, but now we’re here. We’ve made it. It’s been a great show so far, and we’re only halfway through! We were all really worried at first over whether or not you two could pull off bringing the party together to present a (mostly) united front against one of the biggest threats our country has ever known. It remains to be seen if this will be successful. A lot of hearts were broken, and a lot of minds have been closed in the race to the nomination. Both “sides” still have some growing up to do between now and November.

One of the things that stood out to me the most during the nomination process, was how you two played off of each other. You two have always been #StrongerTogether. You made each other better candidates. You brought out the best in each other and forced one another to work harder to be the best candidate you could be. And you both succeeded. The Democratic party currently boasts an embarrassment of riches when it comes to amazing people. I have always felt proud about being a Democrat, and I am happy to say that this feeling never wavered during the nomination process.

The nomination has been made now, and Senator Clinton has been chosen to carry the party to the general election in November. Senator Sanders, you have been gracious and humble these past few days, and are to be commended. I can’t have been easy for you. You have helped change the direction of the party. You have changed the conversation. You have pushed Senator Clinton farther than anybody else probably could have, and I hope you are very proud of yourself. Senator Clinton, you have the strongest chance yet to become the first woman president this nation has ever known. Whenever Sanders pushed you, you pushed back, but never pushed over him. You are one of the greatest candidates I have ever seen, and I am so proud to get to vote for you in November.

One thing has become clear to me during this long process: regardless of what you two feel about each other, you’re stuck with each other. The party needs both of you to win, and the country needs both of you to keep working together to become the best that we can be. I don’t care if you two can’t stand the sight of each other once the cameras are off and the doors are closed. You two complement each other perfectly.

My proposal: Senator Clinton, you need to offer Senator Sanders a position in your cabinet, and Senator Sanders, you need to accept it. There are three positions that would be a good fit with your passions. Secretary of Education would allow you to continue your fight for tuition-free college for every American. Secretary of Energy would allow you to continue working for the betterment of the environment. This would help the nation, and the world And Secretary of Labor would help you keep fighting for the working class, the middle class, and helping to achieve goals like equal pay for equal work, and a $15 national minimum wage.

They say that still waters run deep. On the surface, the water might look calm, but underneath, the current is moving swiftly downstream. I think the same could be said of revolutions as well. Sometimes they come with violence and a frenzy of action, and sometimes they sneak up on you until they’re over and you never knew it even took place. I personally believe that slow and steady wins the race. Maybe the changes won’t happen overnight, but we’ll get there.

Being president would pull you in too many directions to be able to give any of your passions the true attention you need to give them. And by helping out in the cabinet, you help free Senator Clinton to give her attention to other needs. She’ll have a very full plate on her hands and will need all the help she can get. Juggling the needs of the nation while also keeping her eye out on the rest of the world will take every spare moment she can give.

What better way to continue bringing the party together and healing the rift that was created over the last year, than by announcing that both of you will continue to fight for America after being elected to the White House in November? I would encourage both of you to seriously consider this idea. I don’t care if you hate each other; you can work from different buildings if you have to. As public servants, making the United States of America the best it can be, should be your top priority. It’s time to let go of any bruised egos, hurt feelings, and negative personal opinions of each other you may have, and continue to work together. We will thank you for it. History will remember you for it.

Signed,

Summer Whitesell

Seattle, Washington

The Presidency and How We View It

I don't know about you, but my social media has been pretty crazy lately. Some people are extremely excited about Hillary Clinton being the Democrat nominee, some people are terrified/outraged. And some, I'd wager to bet the majority, are just quietly taking it all in and hoping calmness and logic will prevail over emotion by November. I've been mulling it over, and wanted to offer my thoughts about all of this. 

Regardless of who the nominee is, the president is not the person with the most power in this country. He or she is one of many people who wield power in this country. Our nation is purposefully set up like this so no one person can have all the power. He or she isn't the captain of the ship, he or she is the steering wheel of the ship, and moves in the direction that he or she is told to by the captain, which is us. Yes, the president does have a good amount of power at their fingertips, and that does need to be taken into account when looking at our options in November, but it is not the sole source of power in this country.

What the president isn't and should never be: Our Messiah. Lately it seems to me that we look to the president to solve all our problems and we become disappointed and disillusioned when that doesn't happen. I feel that we sometimes idolize the role of president and whoever it currently is. For anybody of Judaeo-Christian persuasion, we know this is generally a bad thing. In fact, it's rather quite frowned upon and should definitely be kept in check. We should never make the mistake of turning the president into a god. They should never have that much power over us. We simply cannot and should not, put all our hopes and dreams on the shoulders of this person. Some of the hopes and dreams we will have to achieve on our own, regardless of who currently does or will become the next steering wheel of America.

The person in the role of the presidency is merely a human, just like us. He or she is fallible, is not and cannot be perfect. He or she will inevitably disappoint everybody at various parts of their tenure as president. This is simply the way it is because a government is a human-made entity, run by fallible, imperfect humans. As much as we try to make it look like it's greater than this, or capable of being better than it is, we will always be choosing the lesser of two evils when we vote.

We like to say things like "This is the most important election of our lifetime," to try and drum up support of our candidate and to encourage others to go out and vote as well. But the truth is, every single election, at every single level, is the most important election of our lifetime. Local elections will affect our daily lives much more often and much deeper than those at a national level. "Lesser" elections like those of our Congressmen and women and those in the Senate are in some ways, far more important than whoever we elect as the next president. With our current Do-Nothing Congress up for reelection, we have a responsibility to vote them out of office. If they remain in office, it won't matter which Democrat is elected, because none of their goals will be achieved. 

And finally, to the "Bernie or Bust" people, I'd like to point out just a few things that are subject to change, should the Democrats lose the election in November. The Affordable Care Act, women's right to choose what they can and cannot do with their bodies, two or possibly three Supreme Court Justices who serve a lifetime term, our dignity and standing in the rest of the world. All of these things will affect not only the four to eight years that a GOP candidate is in office, but for generations to come. It will affect not only America, but the whole planet, as well. Writing in a person as a candidate or encouraging them to run as a third party candidate has always been a way of helping to elect the other side's candidate. In the history of this country, no write-in or third party candidate has ever won a presidency. If this candidate did not win the primary election, what makes you think he or she could possibly win via these means in a general election? Just remember that the "bust" part of that saying affects everybody else in this country as well, not just you. A scorched earth policy only destroys the earth; I have yet to see anything good come of it. If November comes around and you still just cannot stomach the idea of voting for Hillary Clinton, I would honestly encourage you to not vote for that category at all. You are allowed to do that, it is your right to abstain from voting for a category if all the options are so abhorrent to you that you cannot do so in good conscience. I would, however, highly encourage you to vote for your state's Congressmen and women and Senate members who are up for reelection. Either voting them back in or out, as you see fit. Just because you skip one category doesn't mean you can't vote for everything else.

It is still an eternity away until November, and anything can and probably will happen between now and then. Emotions are high, and it's about to start getting even uglier. One thing to remember in all of this is that we are all trying our best to do what we feel is right for the present and future of our country. And when the election is over, and the dust has settled, we still have to work with each other, live with each other, and be friends with each other. Don't let an election ruin real life relationships in your own world. Nothing is worth that. Not even Donald Trump.

Have Courage and Be Kind

I'm starting to see a lot of open letters to Donald Trump and have been trying to think of the words to pen my own. But none of our words will get to him. A narcissist such as himself will never hear anything but what he wants to hear. I won't waste my effort. The best way to combat a narcissist, is to ignore him. Change the channel whenever his face comes on the tv. Skip reading the articles online. Scroll past the clever memes. Even negative attention is still attention, and he'll take whatever he can get. 

We cannot get through to him, but maybe we can get through to his followers. Rather than call them names and roll our eyes at what we think is their stupidity, maybe we can try to hear them, for once. What are they so scared of? What do they really want? Many of them just want jobs and are willing to put up with Trump's garbage to get one. Many of them just want to be heard. I know from my own experience that once I have been heard, I am able to let go of whatever I've been holding onto. Maybe listening to these people's anger, fear, and frustration will help them to move on from it. Maybe it will open hearts and minds, our own included. 

The 2015 Disney live-action version of Cinderella includes a catchphrase used several times throughout the movie. "Have courage, and be kind." It takes courage for us to stand up for what's right. It takes courage to choose not to respond in kind when people are being hateful, racist, hurtful, and divisive. It takes courage to extend a hand in friendship when you would rather extend a fist in anger. Being kind is hard. Being kind is a choice that we have to make every day. It's so easy to give into anger and hate. Kindness is optional in life. Some see it as a weakness to be use against others, but I see it as a strength. Why give somebody the power to take kindness and happiness away from you? 

In the future, I will try not to post too much stuff on my social media regarding that man. In an effort to diminish his power, I will try to be more mindful of what I share and respond to online. Paying him no mind is the best way to take away his power. At the same time, I will try to listen to what people are saying. I'd be willing to bet, when you strip away the anger, hatred, and vitriol, we all have a lot of the same goals in life. Safety, security, comfort, feeling like you have control over your own life. We all want these things. Maybe we can find a way to come together to help us all achieve them. Moving forward, together. It takes both courage, and kindness.

Why I detest "#FeeltheBern"

Bernie Sanders fans have selected the most unfortunate catch phrase of "Feel the Bern" to express their love/hysteria/passion for the candidate of their choice. I have to wonder, though, if any of them has ever experienced the pain of a burn. I have, and I can assure you that it is not a fun experience, or something I would wish other people to experience.

When I was ten, I fell on an overturned grate that had been over a campfire all day. I ended up with grill marks across my left hand and a giant blister that forced my hand into a curved position. The only thing that brought any level of relief was to keep my hand on a block of ice all night long, but I cannot explain in words the pain I felt. It was excruciating and after a while you started to hope for unconsciousness to put you out of your misery. The next day, I went to the doctor to see what could be done. The doctor drained the blister, which they don't normally do, but the way it had forced my hand into a curved position was worrisome that it would do permanent muscle damage if it stayed in that position for too long. Next came the scrubbing. With a hard bristle brush. Right on the burned skin. After that came the cutting of the dead skin. Just enough to cut what would pull away on its own. Never forcing it. Then they slathered it in salve and wrapped it in gauze. My mother was trained in how to do this for me and ended up having to continue this for the next week or so. I cannot fathom my mother's strength as she did this for me. It was painful, but it had to be done. It's not a memory she likes to talk about very much, even now. But she did it, because she had to help her child get better.

My burned hand probably doesn't sound like it has much to do with politics, and maybe it doesn't. But it's what the phrase "#FeeltheBern" invokes in me. And don't get me wrong, I am happy that so many people are getting involved in politics and the political process. People are excited and enthusiastic. I am reminded of what Barack Obama's campaign felt like in its infancy. What I don't remember about the Obama campaign, though, was what I refer to as "Bernie Bullies." These are Bernie Sanders fans who are very excited about the idea of a Sanders presidency, but cross a line in the way they go about expressing it. People who bully others. People who call names and make fun of people who are supporting other candidates. The unfortunate result of Bernie Bullies, is the exact opposite of what they are hoping for. Instead of bringing people together and helping to convince people that Sanders is the candidate for them, they are pushing them away, making them cling even harder to the candidate of their choice. Hearing these people say things like, "If Sanders isn't nominated, I'm writing him in/not voting at all/voting for Donald Trump just to spite people," doesn't make me respect them. It makes me question their motives. I think a lot of these people look at Sanders for "What can I get out of him?" instead of "What can he do for all of us?" It's a very selfish point of view.

The worst part of the phrase #FeeltheBern, is that burns fade in time. The pain subsides, and after the scrubbing, cutting, and wrapping, new skin begins to grow and the burn becomes a painful memory. My biggest concern about a Sanders nomination, a Sanders presidency, and his fan base, is the idea that he might not achieve his many, lofty goals. With politics, I am a "slow and steady wins the race" person. When you push people too far, too soon, you end up with a civil war, or a Donald Trump phenomenon. The pendulum always swings back the other way before balancing out again. Unless Sanders comes into a presidency with a brand new "Will do" Congress, pretty much none of his goals will be achieved, through no fault of his own. But, as with what happened with Obama, when people realized he really couldn't walk on water, when people realize that Sanders isn't the Messiah they are praying for, they will begin to turn on him like a pack of rabid dogs. But we're not just electing a new president for the next four years, we are of course hoping to elect them for the next eight. With the majority of his fan base disappointed and disillusioned, it will be up to people like me, people who will vote for the Democrat whoever they are, and keep their eyes on the greater goals and needs of our nation, to get him reelected.

For all the people currently "feeling the Bern," I wonder how many will be left four years from now. How many of his fans are merely fair weather fans, only looking at him to get some cool stuff out of him, who will turn against him when they see how long it takes to achieve his goals? I can guarantee you, if he is elected president and inaugurated next January, you will not have "free" college that February. It's gonna take time. Just like all burns take to heal properly. Do you have that patience? Do you have that stamina? Because I can tell you, with personal experience, that the scrubbing, cutting, wrapping, and regrowth of burned skin is excruciating. But it's worth it. My hand healed and there was no lasting muscle damage. But it's a pretty painful memory for both me and my mom. Will Bernie Sanders end up being a painful memory for his most ardent fans? Possibly. But if he's elected president, hopefully he'll be given the time to move this country to a place where we can handle the dreams he has for us all.