1. Correct. I always cringed when Joe Biden said, over and over, "This isn't who we are." Sorry, Joe.
2. Correct. My grandparents were immigrants, but it's certainly thoughtless to apply that to everyone.
3. Damn right. Talking about "training" is an insult to the intelligence. They are trained for their purpose, which is to terrorize!
4. Right. I am in fear that when this abominable regime finally falls, there will be heartfelt pleas for "healing" and "leaving rancor behind" and other horseshit spoken to avoid the hard, hard work of facing a reckoning.
5. Absolutely. This is closely related to #4.
I'm an old white man. But I understand these points, not as some kind of magic incantations to be accepted into an elite progressive club, but because they are true.
I'm very worried that when take back our government this will all be swept under the rug with polite murmurs of reaching across the aisle and finding middle ground. There is no fucking middle ground. We need leaders with guts who will make permanent changes so this can never happen again.
I'm adding (because I'm afraid my post came off as tone deaf) that the "we" I'm talking about are all of us who oppose not only what is going on now, but what has always gone on in this country since invaders came and "conquered " the indigenous people. In that respect I suppose there is no taking it back because it's never been free and fair for all. And maybe white people needed to see white people's rights trampled on to understand what POC have experienced for centuries.
There are far too many people who refuse to acknowledge a problem unless it affects them personally. What the solution is, I haven’t a clue. If a person cannot grasp that they should care about other people, explaining it to them is a waste of time.
Another thing that bugs the heck out of me: whenever folks unite across color and class to fight for their rights, those with more relative privilege benefit the most. It’s maddening to see (for example) Black female activists busting their butts over and over, and getting far less for it than I do (I’m a White woman). It’s unfair.
I want to make sure that we don’t leave anyone behind this time.
And no “We need to heal,” Or “we need to look forward and not back,” without holding this regime and its enablers accountable. Those in power have failed to do that after the Civil War, Watergate, the so-called “war on drugs”, the Iraq war…which has allowed White Supremacists and other Authoritarians to regroup and try again. And here we are.
Someone below asked if White people ever shut the hell up. Hard for me to do when I’m on a roll…so for me that’d be now, I guess?
Well, she mentioned that her people were kidnapped and brought to this country, and forced in to labor. Who do you plan to prosecute? Those people died many many years ago. How is she a victim? She has an excellent education and a PHD. How was she victimized?
Tell us you are a troll without telling us you are a troll, pretending you don't grasp the concept of the systemized racism intentionally built and maintained in the fabric of the USA. As a democratic republic, we are all responsible. Now, given our federal government is now Christofascist, they are responsible. It's not complicated, really. Stop pretending you just don't understand racism. Cosplayed ignorance isn't really a good look.
She is suggesting something similar to the Nuremberg Trials, which were convened by the European countries occupied by German Nazis. They disclosed to the world what living and dying under White Supremacist, specifically, Nazi Fascist occupation was like. It sought to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Speaking of “This isn’t who we are”, I think that a clearer, more precise statement would be “This isn’t who I am”. This allows you to take responsibility for your own actions and beliefs as a human being while enabling you to distance yourself from others in “your” group who may not have the same values. We are all human beings, first and foremost and it is our responsibility to lift each other up, no matter what. Groups in power must acknowledge that as a group they have denied basic rights and freedoms to others and act accordingly. No human is illegal.
Even better - “ We acknowledge this is wrong, as are many of the dark parts of our history , and we collectively want to be better .” As a Black person with an indigenous grandmother , this would go a long way to indicate both understanding and remorseful solidarity with everyone marginalized by the political and economic structures in place today.
Clarity and concision in political writing are acts of respect for the reader. The obfuscation that passes for punditry serves those who benefit from confusion. Welcome to finding writers who refuse to participate in it.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND THEY ARE JUST LIKE THE KEYSTONE COPS AND CAPITON
KANGAROO IS LEADING UP ARMY C.I.D.
I WANT TO KNOW HOW DOES A ARMY RESERVIST OUT OF THE 425th CIVIL AFFAIRS BATTALION ENCINO CALIFORNIA STAFF SGT NANCY G.
MAKES OVER $500,000.00 A YEAR
JUST BEING IN THE RESERVES AND I HAVE PROOF HAVE A COPY OF HER BANK ACCOUNT AND SHE DOES ARMY ROMANCE SCAMMER, SHE SCAMMED ME AND SAID PROVE IT, I HAVE ALMOST 2,500 PAGES OF TEXT FROM HER AND ARMY CID IS COVERING IT UP AND SHE TRADES SEX FOR MONEY, BANK TRANSFERS ONLY NO ACTUAL PAPER MONEY TRADES HANDS AND SOME ARE OFFICERS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND MARRIED
SHE IS KEEPING UP SOLDIER MORAL AND
WHAT HELPS HER SHE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND JUST TURN 30 YRS OLD TOP 38D AND THEY ARE PERFECT NEVER BEEN UNDER THE KNIFE AND LOOK FOR HER @NANCY NUDES US ARMY
It has been considered shouting since the days of Usenet and BBSes in the 1980s, if not for longer. I don't know where you learned your netiquette, but it failed you on this one.
Thank you for reminding me, at 60, that I need to keep working on expanding my worldview. Learning to stop othering, in words and deeds, takes conscious effort and practice.
At 60, choosing to expand rather than calcify. That conscious effort you describe is rarer than it should be. Most people mistake their ossified prejudices for wisdom. Growth requires admitting the worldview you inherited was incomplete.
I learned some of what you said a few weeks ago, when I said "it's illegal" and a kind person in one of my chats DMed me to tell me how irritating that phrase was to her and why. And she was RIGHT. Maybe we say things because of our own surprise, but the intent doesn't matter- it puts distance between all of us. This kind of shit didn't just start - it just became visible to some groups. And those of us who stand in solidarity and and struggle for the same freedoms must be willing to see that before we can help in real ways. We have to face who we are to deal with who we are as a country.
Crossing out civility and writing justice underneath. That is a correction most institutions refuse to make. Civility without justice is merely the aesthetics of compliance. Your pencil understood what Congress still pretends not to.
Thank you, Haas. "Civility without justice is merely the aesthetics of compliance" is not only precise and truthful, but billboard worthy, and I will pass it on.
I agree. We need justice before civility. Too many times, civility is a method used to ignore injustice and uncomfortable realities. I would rather see respect by those with power toward those without power.
Civility in the mouths of monsters is like the poison in Lucrezia Borgia's ring. “The wicked earn a living by deception…” ( Grimm). Consider the sweet sounding words of the old witch in the folklore tale of Hansel and Gretal (the brothers Grimm). There is a reason why children were taught folk stories with wisdom messages at their root. I wonder if that is still a ubiquitous thing anymore. I doubt it. I wonder what MAGA childhoods were like. There are so many great classical stories a parent can employ to help built positive character values and role models for their children.
Exactly! The powers that be will fuck you hard as they can with a smile, a soft voice, polite civility, pleasant naming euphemisms and weasil word explanations. If you don't believe me look at the fucking divorced and married women are about to get when they get euchered out of registering to vote under the “SAVE ACT.” Dosen't that sound nice? Something is being saved instead of being wasted. A good thing, right? Wrong Kemosabe!!! The only thing being saved are lthe lying asses of the goddamned? motherfucking, sons ‘o bitches in the Republican Party in congress, because folks are on to their rotten shit, and they are throughly pissed off. FUCK CIVILITY IN A CRISIS. Broadcast all enemy action in the clear.
Accountability, integrity, empathy. Three words that should be unremarkable in any leader and yet now qualify as radical demands. When the bare minimum becomes aspirational, we have measured exactly how far we have fallen.
Thank you for writing this so clearly - so needed. I’m forwarding it to all my (old, white, retired, women) friends. Some of us have worked for justice our whole lives and careers, some are relatively new, but we can all (me very much included) stretch more and work harder. Thank you.
Well said. Someone should compile a glossary of terms of avoidance, like the handful you mentioned. Someone should also point out that innocence can be toxic and lethal. Thanks for what you do.
Thanks for this. I've been saying "we're all immigrants except indigenous folks" but wasn't even thinking that slavery definitely isn't a form of immigration.
100%. Forced displacement (enslavement, famine, war) is definitely not choice. This reproduces in America in many forms such as the foster & adoption trafficking / forced displacement systems.
1. Correct. I always cringed when Joe Biden said, over and over, "This isn't who we are." Sorry, Joe.
2. Correct. My grandparents were immigrants, but it's certainly thoughtless to apply that to everyone.
3. Damn right. Talking about "training" is an insult to the intelligence. They are trained for their purpose, which is to terrorize!
4. Right. I am in fear that when this abominable regime finally falls, there will be heartfelt pleas for "healing" and "leaving rancor behind" and other horseshit spoken to avoid the hard, hard work of facing a reckoning.
5. Absolutely. This is closely related to #4.
I'm an old white man. But I understand these points, not as some kind of magic incantations to be accepted into an elite progressive club, but because they are true.
I'm very worried that when take back our government this will all be swept under the rug with polite murmurs of reaching across the aisle and finding middle ground. There is no fucking middle ground. We need leaders with guts who will make permanent changes so this can never happen again.
I'm adding (because I'm afraid my post came off as tone deaf) that the "we" I'm talking about are all of us who oppose not only what is going on now, but what has always gone on in this country since invaders came and "conquered " the indigenous people. In that respect I suppose there is no taking it back because it's never been free and fair for all. And maybe white people needed to see white people's rights trampled on to understand what POC have experienced for centuries.
There are far too many people who refuse to acknowledge a problem unless it affects them personally. What the solution is, I haven’t a clue. If a person cannot grasp that they should care about other people, explaining it to them is a waste of time.
Another thing that bugs the heck out of me: whenever folks unite across color and class to fight for their rights, those with more relative privilege benefit the most. It’s maddening to see (for example) Black female activists busting their butts over and over, and getting far less for it than I do (I’m a White woman). It’s unfair.
I want to make sure that we don’t leave anyone behind this time.
And no “We need to heal,” Or “we need to look forward and not back,” without holding this regime and its enablers accountable. Those in power have failed to do that after the Civil War, Watergate, the so-called “war on drugs”, the Iraq war…which has allowed White Supremacists and other Authoritarians to regroup and try again. And here we are.
Someone below asked if White people ever shut the hell up. Hard for me to do when I’m on a roll…so for me that’d be now, I guess?
I want post WWII Nuremburg for these guys. I agree with you completely.
Nuremberg. Does this mean you are a Nazi?
Not Nuremberg RALLY, buck-O. Nuremberg TRIALS.
Emmy is saying she wants accountability, like what the Nuremberg trials sought to deliver after WW II. Accountability is key.
Well, she mentioned that her people were kidnapped and brought to this country, and forced in to labor. Who do you plan to prosecute? Those people died many many years ago. How is she a victim? She has an excellent education and a PHD. How was she victimized?
Give us a break "Steve." You know what she means.
Tell us you are a troll without telling us you are a troll, pretending you don't grasp the concept of the systemized racism intentionally built and maintained in the fabric of the USA. As a democratic republic, we are all responsible. Now, given our federal government is now Christofascist, they are responsible. It's not complicated, really. Stop pretending you just don't understand racism. Cosplayed ignorance isn't really a good look.
The Nuremberg trials were conducted by non-Nazis holding Nazis accountable. But thanks for asking.
But Nuremberg is in Germany, so not sure why you want to go back there.
She is suggesting something similar to the Nuremberg Trials, which were convened by the European countries occupied by German Nazis. They disclosed to the world what living and dying under White Supremacist, specifically, Nazi Fascist occupation was like. It sought to bring the perpetrators to justice.
There are edges to the middle ground worth exploring.
Just stay away from the closer-to-the-middle middle! You're liable to fall thru!
No.
I'm right there with you.
As an old white woman, I say Amen!
Old white woman, lifelong Minnesotan here. I agree. With everything you wrote. Keep writing please 🙏🏻
Rick - just the fact that you are an old white man who gets it - made my day. Thank you.
Speaking of “This isn’t who we are”, I think that a clearer, more precise statement would be “This isn’t who I am”. This allows you to take responsibility for your own actions and beliefs as a human being while enabling you to distance yourself from others in “your” group who may not have the same values. We are all human beings, first and foremost and it is our responsibility to lift each other up, no matter what. Groups in power must acknowledge that as a group they have denied basic rights and freedoms to others and act accordingly. No human is illegal.
Great point! Another version is “This isn’t who we want to be.” As long as we acknowledge reality.
We can acknowledge reality and then act together to try and make it better for those who are struggling to survive it. We just need a united front.
Even better - “ We acknowledge this is wrong, as are many of the dark parts of our history , and we collectively want to be better .” As a Black person with an indigenous grandmother , this would go a long way to indicate both understanding and remorseful solidarity with everyone marginalized by the political and economic structures in place today.
I like that. It is always good to acknowledge privilege in whatever form it takes and then proceed with respect from there.
I too, am getting jaded by the pleas for “healing”. It’s code for going back to the usual racist , sexist hierarchy.
Thank you, Rick!
I agree with you!
Wow, I love this! Thank you for putting it so clearly and concisely. I look forward to reading more from you.
Clarity and concision in political writing are acts of respect for the reader. The obfuscation that passes for punditry serves those who benefit from confusion. Welcome to finding writers who refuse to participate in it.
ACTUALLY I'M MAKING ARMY C.I.D.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND THEY ARE JUST LIKE THE KEYSTONE COPS AND CAPITON
KANGAROO IS LEADING UP ARMY C.I.D.
I WANT TO KNOW HOW DOES A ARMY RESERVIST OUT OF THE 425th CIVIL AFFAIRS BATTALION ENCINO CALIFORNIA STAFF SGT NANCY G.
MAKES OVER $500,000.00 A YEAR
JUST BEING IN THE RESERVES AND I HAVE PROOF HAVE A COPY OF HER BANK ACCOUNT AND SHE DOES ARMY ROMANCE SCAMMER, SHE SCAMMED ME AND SAID PROVE IT, I HAVE ALMOST 2,500 PAGES OF TEXT FROM HER AND ARMY CID IS COVERING IT UP AND SHE TRADES SEX FOR MONEY, BANK TRANSFERS ONLY NO ACTUAL PAPER MONEY TRADES HANDS AND SOME ARE OFFICERS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND MARRIED
SHE IS KEEPING UP SOLDIER MORAL AND
WHAT HELPS HER SHE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND JUST TURN 30 YRS OLD TOP 38D AND THEY ARE PERFECT NEVER BEEN UNDER THE KNIFE AND LOOK FOR HER @NANCY NUDES US ARMY
A comment, not a criticism:
ALL CAPS is shouting and VERY hard to read.
It may be hard to read but it is not shouting.
It has been considered shouting since the days of Usenet and BBSes in the 1980s, if not for longer. I don't know where you learned your netiquette, but it failed you on this one.
Thank you for reminding me, at 60, that I need to keep working on expanding my worldview. Learning to stop othering, in words and deeds, takes conscious effort and practice.
At 60, choosing to expand rather than calcify. That conscious effort you describe is rarer than it should be. Most people mistake their ossified prejudices for wisdom. Growth requires admitting the worldview you inherited was incomplete.
Holds true for me at 75.
Well said.. Thank you.
I learned some of what you said a few weeks ago, when I said "it's illegal" and a kind person in one of my chats DMed me to tell me how irritating that phrase was to her and why. And she was RIGHT. Maybe we say things because of our own surprise, but the intent doesn't matter- it puts distance between all of us. This kind of shit didn't just start - it just became visible to some groups. And those of us who stand in solidarity and and struggle for the same freedoms must be willing to see that before we can help in real ways. We have to face who we are to deal with who we are as a country.
I have this stress pencil that was given to me and it has in print, "Civility". I crossed it out and write underneath with a black marker, "Justice."
Crossing out civility and writing justice underneath. That is a correction most institutions refuse to make. Civility without justice is merely the aesthetics of compliance. Your pencil understood what Congress still pretends not to.
Thank you, Haas. "Civility without justice is merely the aesthetics of compliance" is not only precise and truthful, but billboard worthy, and I will pass it on.
wrote*
I agree. We need justice before civility. Too many times, civility is a method used to ignore injustice and uncomfortable realities. I would rather see respect by those with power toward those without power.
Civility in the mouths of monsters is like the poison in Lucrezia Borgia's ring. “The wicked earn a living by deception…” ( Grimm). Consider the sweet sounding words of the old witch in the folklore tale of Hansel and Gretal (the brothers Grimm). There is a reason why children were taught folk stories with wisdom messages at their root. I wonder if that is still a ubiquitous thing anymore. I doubt it. I wonder what MAGA childhoods were like. There are so many great classical stories a parent can employ to help built positive character values and role models for their children.
Exactly! The powers that be will fuck you hard as they can with a smile, a soft voice, polite civility, pleasant naming euphemisms and weasil word explanations. If you don't believe me look at the fucking divorced and married women are about to get when they get euchered out of registering to vote under the “SAVE ACT.” Dosen't that sound nice? Something is being saved instead of being wasted. A good thing, right? Wrong Kemosabe!!! The only thing being saved are lthe lying asses of the goddamned? motherfucking, sons ‘o bitches in the Republican Party in congress, because folks are on to their rotten shit, and they are throughly pissed off. FUCK CIVILITY IN A CRISIS. Broadcast all enemy action in the clear.
I’ve always particularly hated “this isn’t who we are.” It’s exactly who we are.
Amplifying!!!!!
thank you!
No one is illegal on stolen land that was built by people who were stolen to put profits before humanity.
Accountability. Integrity. Empathy. not the rest of the bs. Great article, ty.
Accountability, integrity, empathy. Three words that should be unremarkable in any leader and yet now qualify as radical demands. When the bare minimum becomes aspirational, we have measured exactly how far we have fallen.
True! Those were values and qualities we were taught at home, school, and house of worship from our earliest years.
I look forward to the day when the current regime is held fully accountable and justice is restored.
One sign of justice might be granting citizenship to those our government has wronged, with civil monetary awards.
Thank you for writing this so clearly - so needed. I’m forwarding it to all my (old, white, retired, women) friends. Some of us have worked for justice our whole lives and careers, some are relatively new, but we can all (me very much included) stretch more and work harder. Thank you.
I agree 💯!
I don’t want to “rebuild America”… America has been a shit place for a long time.
I want to build the America we can and should be.
But, damn… that requires thought and time!
“We don’t have time for that - there’s an election coming up!”
I hate to break it to them, but this will take multiple generations to build. It’s not a fucking set change on Broadway!!!
Thank you for posting this! 💜💜💜
So, historically speaking, when have white people ever shut the fuck up?
Asking for a friend.
LOL
This made me laugh with my morning coffee.
Well said. Someone should compile a glossary of terms of avoidance, like the handful you mentioned. Someone should also point out that innocence can be toxic and lethal. Thanks for what you do.
Agree 100%. So sick of that BS. And I am white 82 yo female. I have heard that shit for way too long!
😘
White woman here who agrees 100% with what you've said - makes a point to not say those things you called out -- and will amplify your message!
I'm so glad I found your essay. It's powerful and true and I wish everyone could and would read it. I'm saving it to read again, perhaps many times.
Thanks for this. I've been saying "we're all immigrants except indigenous folks" but wasn't even thinking that slavery definitely isn't a form of immigration.
100%. Forced displacement (enslavement, famine, war) is definitely not choice. This reproduces in America in many forms such as the foster & adoption trafficking / forced displacement systems.