Speaking up and helping out.

In the hopes of sharing things “outside of my bubble,” I’m posting what I wrote yesterday on Facebook right here. Not because my voice is so terribly important and not because I have a pressing need to make the various crises in the world about my particular path, but because vigilance against injustice ain’t really a pick n’ choose kind of thing.

Plus, speaking up paves the way for real, actualized results. Like the hate-filled Daily Stormer website having its account revoked by hosting site GoDaddy because Twitter users noted that the aforementioned were clearly violating terms of service. (And yesterday, after they moved over to Google hosting? Google dropped their account, too.) And the Illinois Senate just passed a measure to categorize Neo-Nazis as a terrorist group. (Don’t know why it took so long, but regardless- Speaking. Up. Works.)

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Okay.

So, this is the portion of the program where we all publicly denounce Nazis— because apparently this is a thing that now needs doing in 2017 America.

Here goes: I do not, nor have I ever, stood with, near, or even in the same Value Barn as anyone who has ever even remotely identified with white supremacy. Not in a house, not with a mouse, not in the streets, not with white sheets.

There. Hilariously easy, right?

Because it absolutely should be. In 2017 America, I mean. You know, after the generations who fought the Nazis and the Civil Rights Movement which [should have] obliterated lawful racism?

Because- Jesus Christ- if you ever find yourself on opposing sides of Indiana Jones and Captain America and the whole “Nazi-fighting” thing, your belief system might just be cartoonishly wrong.

Also, if any of us ever wonders if perhaps White Christianity is the only path worth acknowledging, do you know who we’re leaving out?

Jesus Christ! (A brown, Jewish guy. Who definitely promoted things like peace and love and not so much things like slavery.)

Listen, a KKK march with torch-bearing guys who don’t even worry about showing their faces—that’s more than a tiny bit troubling. I know you feel that way too.

Regardless of political affiliation or thoughts on health care, you agree that angry hatemongers shouldn’t be allowed to take to the streets like flame-wielding villagers from a Frankenstein-esque mob scene, right? That the Confederate flag shouldn’t hold more importance than the American one, and that protection for all ought to include women, children, people darker than you, couples who don’t want you all up in their bedroom, people who pray elsewhere, and folks who might feel concerned by others’ desire to cling to a monument glorifying slavery as, you know, a pretty grand way of life [for some].

…Right?

When the Tiki Brand torch company says you’re using their torches incorrectly, that’s a literal and metaphorical sign that you’re putting something really, really bad out there.

I use the conversational “you” really casually in this last bit. Because I know this isn’t “you”. You’re not a Klansman, Klanswoman, or Klans-permissive tiki company, and you wouldn’t let that junk fly in the world that a kid about whom you feel fondly will someday inherit, right?

Great, me neither.

Glad we got that settled.

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