I was going to pound this out in a little Facebook status, however, it became rather long so I thought I'd transform that nugget of anger into a blog post. Grab a snack.
As almost all of you know, yesterday was the Women's March on Washington, to support the continuation of women's rights, and to protest a misogynistic campaign, and now, administration. In addition to the March in D.C., many others were held in cities across the nation and around the world in solidarity, with unprecedented turnout. I couldn't go to the one here in Grand Rapids, but I am happy to say I know lots of people around the country who attended marches in their respective cities. It's awesome to see so much support for women and I think it's a promising look at what's to come in the fight against inequality and injustice.
In these past few weeks of increasingly polarized social media opinions in the midst of our new president's transition to power, I've had a few people inquire to me about how I am personally oppressed by inequality or certain legislation (or lack thereof), or why I care, if I'm white, educated, and middle-class.
Well, briefly I'm a woman. And I got like 1 or 2 problems that I'm mad about.
HOWEVER, my staunch support of progressive legislation does NOT come exclusively from the fact that I myself am a woman with 1 or 2 problems.
It's because I know that there are plenty of other people besides me who feel worried, uneasy, and afraid as well- way more than I am. White women experience sexism, but women of color are subject to both sexism AND racial prejudice. I care about their equality, even though as a caucasian female, I don't share their experience. I care about people that come to this country in hope of finding a safe place to live with their families, no matter where they're from. I support the fight for equality for ethnic minorities, and people who are transgendered, even though I am not representative of either of these groups. I support people who are physically and mentally disabled. I'll gladly allow a portion of my wages to go towards welfare, because I don't think it's so terrible that because of that a disadvantaged family gets to buy the food they need to survive- the same idea applies to if there were legitimate universal healthcare in the States, if part of my taxes go towards someone getting free access to lifesaving medication, I'm not going to be mad. Like...good! I'm glad I could help!
My point here is that most of the reason I feel so strongly about this is not because of what may happen for me, but what might happen for so many other people in this country. The rhetoric, proposed policies, and political appointments of this administration threaten so much of what we have worked hard to eradicate, and are still working towards. Don't get me wrong- I wasn't born woke, none of us were- and I've become educated over time, like everyone else. I believe everyone has the capacity to learn empathy and gain a greater understanding of the struggles that other people might experience, and I hope that the fight for progressive causes will help other people to work past their ignorance.
It may be a revelation to those questioning support of pro-equality causes that altruism plays a large part in many of these ideologies. Care about other people, regardless of any benefit for yourself. It doesn't matter if you haven't witnessed prejudice or hate firsthand, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen and shouldn't be addressed. Just because you may not understand someone else's religion or lifestyle (provided it's not harmful to others, but that should go without saying) doesn't make it unworthy of respect. I don't know, if I had to simplify it, I'd just say, think about something besides your own self-interest. Understand that people feel afraid, and do not gaslight their fear as being invalid just because you can't relate.
Essentially, what I think it boils down to is that it is important to acknowledge that there are other people besides you, with issues different from yours and struggles that you may not understand, who need things that you may not. We do not all experience life the same way, and we NEED to acknowledge this. We aren't all blessed with the same abilities in life, and we need to support equity and equality until it's a reality for everyone.
What bothers me most is that we still have to wake up and fight for this shit. I haven't been on this godforsaken garbage ball for very long, but in my years I've seen so much pushing and pushing and pushing just for everyone to have a fair change at a good and pure life free of fear, and it's crazy to think we still aren't there. Three years ago when I was working in Chicago with organizations like the SPLC and HRC (I know I talk about this a lot, but it's really these experiences that made me so passionate about this stuff today), it seemed like we were almost at the top of a buttery smooth slide towards safety and equality. I never thought that we'd get to a point where we had to pick up and start again, but here we are. But if there's one thing I know, it's that we've sure as shit got the strength and ability to fight for as long as we have to, until we're finally where we wanna be.
I don't own anything that isn't black, so I would have probably been out of place anyway
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