White liberals and leftists that are reeling in shock of the election really shouldn't be.
We've always had it in us; this has always been our America, our legacy and history. Any of us feeling shocked, betrayed, unsafe — welcome to America. Welcome to the reality of black people. The reality of indigenous people. The reality of Muslims, of Asians, of Latinos. The reality of rampant racism.
This shock, this surprise is a product of the wall of insulation we built. For every white person and relationship that we decide to maintain or break based on our personal tolerance of racism; moving away from blatant racism because we can choose to disengage, instead of stamping it out. We choose because we can choose. We all joke about how racist our home town is, how easily we won't talk to our older relatives about their bullshit because we can choose to overlook or ignore the reality that is created from every single unchecked interaction. Every white person we stay quiet around is a choice of our comfort over racism.
The election map even shows this white flight — liberal cities surrounded by large swaths of conservative areas. We came from those areas. We fled from second hand intolerance. Yeah, sure, every rule has its exception. People getting ejected from these areas because of familial rejection, or needs that can't be met. But damn, how are they ever gonna meet the needs of a white liberal if we just run away? And if these areas can't even provide comfort for a white liberal, we have no business asking for the support of people of color, whom we abandon. This track record is a mess. Stamping our feet and insisting “this ain't our reality!” is an ineffective attempt to wash our hands of our work. We gotta put the work in. Active work. Confrontational work. The fact that we still consider what we have left to lose proves we care more about our comforts, more about keeping our privileges intact, than basic human rights. What the fuck.
We let this happen. This is not new. This is not a fluke, or a temporary leave of senses. This is the result of white comfort, from both ends of the spectrum. This is a result of white supremacy maintaining itself. Here's one of our biggest dissociations: racism operates outside what white people can understand (in an economic sense) or that it'll be helpful. IT'S BECOMING TIED UP WITH ANTI BLACKNESS. White people deciding that we can compromise on racism for the sake of our finances is the same sentiment we had for slavery.
We, as white folks, are very aware of what we are doing. We are preserving our supremacy because it's fucking instilled in us. Every single bracket of white people overwhelmingly voted for Trump. Rich, poor, young, gay, straight. Men and women. This attempt at othering and ignoring our demographic choices is another attempt to disassociate without doing any work to clean up after ourselves. Own up to your complicity. And knock that ableist shit off. People are not crazy or stupid. That's a shitty attempt at giving whiteness the benefit of doubt. Mentally ill and disabled people are going to suffer if and when Medicaid gets rolled back, just like they already suffer from being ignored and derided, finally trotted out as blame to dump unfounded hatred upon.
What really bothers me is that a lot of white liberals and leftists are protesting. We can mobilize on Trump because he poses a fringe threat to us, but what about for others? Fear may bring us together, but when the immediate threat leaves us, how many will again abandon people of color? I want us to seriously examine our intentions. Replicating institutions that oppress is still white supremacy, and it will lead us down the same road of ruin.
