Today has been utterly exhausting. Today was a day where people made history. Today was a day where those people had to tolerate hypocrisy and injustice because of those comfortable with oppression.
The first thing I read before my drive to the PDX Women's March was a twitter post that read: Logic of people today: Destroy American property with riots to try and make America better. I am frustrated with many things. I am frustrated that we have an uneducated, white supremacist bigot as the supposed leader of our country. I am frustrated that my coffee was not especially hot this morning. I am frustrated that our world is now subject to hate and detest because of differences. But I am mostly frustrated by hypocrites that are stuck within their perspective and unwilling to look past their privilege. And I have one thing to say about comments coming from Republicans, conservatives, or politically ignorant people that make remarks such as these. It is toxic to discredit protesters across the world because of very few spurs of violence and destruction of public property. Our media, particularly right-wing biased media such as Fox News and other popular sources of information, strive off of broadcasting the one single story of protests. That single story is that they are dangerous, an attack on patriotism, and a source of carnage and annihilation on mainly property rights, or in our case, the good ol' American dream. Notice how this pessimistic attitude is a large portion of how Donald Trump supporters view minorities and the very people protesting for their human rights. Media has worked tirelessly to cover up the truth about protests, especially the majority that have happened in the past four days. The Hill, an active source for political news, states, "...while anti-Trump protesters have engaged in mostly peaceful demonstrations against the president-elect, pro-Trump supporters have been responsible for a wave of attacks against Muslims, Latinos, blacks, and the LGBT community," ("Conservatives forget history", Mehlman-Orzoco). Vox news also writes, "Yes, the protests briefly got violent here and there — seemingly because a handful or dozens of people (typically anarchists), out of hundreds or thousands of protesters, decided it was a good idea to vandalize property, including the burning car, a few storefronts, and some public trash cans," ("Don't judge the Inauguration", Lopez). The fact of the matter is that we can look at every situation throughout history where a certain event has happened, and there will always be at one point of the claim one person or even one group of people that will paint the event as one image. It's the same exact logic as to why most people paint Christians to be homophobic and conservative. Or why people believe Muslims are automatically terrorists. Or that people of color, especially African-Americans and black people, are criminals and all feminists are lesbians. These are general stereotypes. It is what white supremacy and systems of oppression thrive off of. Now we can talk about the hypocrisy. I have watched video after tweet from post to message to hashtag to any other form of communication stating that protesters need to "Get over it", "Deal with it", and "Stop being so sensitive." This is not only hypocritical, but also virulent, considering that the anti-Trump protests are upheld for the protection of the power of liberty, equality, and democracy. The idea that conservatives across the nation 'accepted' Obama's election with grace and dignity is a lie, as if when Obama was elected Presidential status there was a national Republican choir of "Kumbaya". There wasn't. There was an "outpouring of hate in 2008" (Orcinus). There were model figures of Obama being lynched and set on fire. There was questioning of his citizenship and his credentials as President, as if that's not something the executive office researches precisely and effectively. The entire intolerance towards human rights that Republicans and conservatives have indulged in by chanting "Get over it", with the safety of their privilege and unearned advantages to consistently and progressively back them up, is complete bullshit. And if you are or know someone who is indifferent towards the power of protest because we the people are being too 'sensitive', you should probably knock that shit off right now. Today the Women's March across the nation has been confirmed to be the "biggest protest in US HISTORY with 2.9million demonstrators against Trump". I thought since it was the biggest protest in US History, it deserved a very large font. We will not stop. I will not stop. I may not be able to speak on behalf of every humans rights supporter, but I can guarantee this is just the beginning. And if we continue to contribute to a society that enhances the danger of a single story, we will only become more ignorant. More subject to letting the government do whatever they want to our rights because we aren't knowledgeable enough to stop them. To even notice when they are crushing our humanity, even if it's happening right in front of our noses. Links to articles used in post: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/20/14342032/inauguration-day-protests http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/womens-march-live-updates-protests-9664725 http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/305749-republicans-employ-double-standard-to-discredit Inspiration for phrase "single story": The Danger of a Single Story - Chimamanda Adichie https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story Ways to help: Donate to rawa.org Donate to organizations such as ACLU and Planned Parenthood, and remember to research and not allow stereotypes rule your beliefs and opinions! Protest on.
3 Comments
Karina
1/22/2017 05:22:13 pm
I love reading your blogs💕
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Jatos
1/23/2017 08:26:49 am
<smiling>
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Nix Pendergast
1/30/2017 02:01:46 pm
You're awesome! Thanks for sharing
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AuthorGrace Willcox. High school student. Likes to think of herself as cunning & witty. Probably isn't. Enjoy. Archives
March 2017
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