I wake up from a refreshing night of sleep, I hop in the shower, grab my coffee and I get my day started. I get into my car, I begin driving to my wonderful job of serving others that I love, I smile as I sing along to my favorite radio station, then I spot another one... another damn license plate with the Gadsden flag on it. I disgustingly give the car a death stare as I read the words, "Don't Tread On Me." I drive past them proudly showing off my Hillary bumper sticker with the hopes of it ruining their day like their repulsive license plate ruined mine. I come to a red light and as I edge closer to the car stopped in front of me, I spot a yellow number sticker that reads "Don't Tread On My Gun Rights". God, I hate living in the South!
If I see another license plate or bumper sticker with the Gadsden flag that reads "Don't Tread On Me", I honestly think I might puke. What I find so nauseating about it is the fact that the exact people that are shouting "Don't Tread On Me" are the very same people who have been treading on the rights of minorities for decades. If one passes a vehicle with the words "Don't Tread On Me," you will most likely pass the car to look in the window and find a very conservative white male who typically wearing some kind of camouflage or confederate flag attire. I once heard someone say, "when you are accustomed to privilege, equality can sometimes feel like oppression." That is exactly what these right wing Tea Partiers are accustomed to... privilege. Their movement and their modern party were resurrected in response to the birth of the first African American president. If they had it their way, we would go back to the "good ole days," or the days of white privilege. The days of the conservative white male president. The days where women didn't hold executive positions or weren't prominent in the workplace, but busy in the kitchen "where they belong". The days when gay citizens had to remain in the closet for fear of being beaten or killed.
The same exact people who drive around with this slogan on their cars are the same people that have oppressed the folks they claim are "oppressing" them now, all because a little equality was distributed. If you do not want me to tread on you, then do not tread on me. Do not tread on women's rights. Do not tread on LGBT rights. Do not tread on civil rights. Do not tread on human rights. If you do not want me to tread on your "gun rights," then do not tread on my right to marry a man if I so wish, or my right to an abortion if I so wish, or my right to become a Muslim if I so wish. The same exact people who proudly promote the message "Don't Tread On Me" are the same people who have been treading all over women, blacks, Hispanics, gays, Jews, Muslims, etc. for several decades, and it is nothing but downright hypocrisy and an uncomfortable privileged response to equality.
