As a cisgender, straight, white, female I understand that I have a lot of privilege afforded to me in this country. However, as that same person I have come to develop friendships with people that have less of that privilege than I. Many of those people have been distraught, angry, or concerned over the past few weeks, and I, in turn, have been scared and angry for them. I have been scared and angry for the countless, black, Latinx, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and Muslim individuals I call my friends. Many of them, awoke on November 9th with a riot in their guts, not knowing when their families would get deported or when their rights were going to be taken away.
So why is it that me and people like me, who have been outraged on account of these individuals, have been told to "relax," and that we would "be fine"?
For these next four years, I am fully aware that I will be okay so long as I don't suddenly need an abortion or adopt the Islamic faith. However, there are people who have been told and shown, time and time again, along this entire Presidential race that they won't be. They have been told they will be added to a faith-based registry. They were told their mothers or fathers who have been trying to get papers for 18 years will be cast out of the country. They have been told their right to marriage will be rescinded. They have been told their right to choice will no longer be theirs. But most importantly, they were shown that over 61 million of their country's men and women didn't give a damn about them.
Imagine that. Imagine that nearly half of the people you are surrounded by each and every day, looked you in the face and told you "I couldn't give a shit less about you." Then, imagine when you try to fight back, trying to stand up to that person, they tell you to stop. They tell you to stop because you are "becoming the hate that you opposed so much," simply by standing up, by having a fire in your belly for the people who have cast you aside. Hate is not all equal. "A woman hates her abuser for how she is treated. Her abuser hates her for being a woman." We have to stop treating victim hate the same way we treat the hate of the oppressor.
The people in the country who are in danger have every right to be upset, angry and hostile about what we have created. They are under no obligation to spread love to the people that consistently abuse them. Furthermore, everyone else, who may not be in their shoes, has the right to stand beside them. Regardless of whether I'm going to be okay, I will still march with my peers. I will be an ally. I will support the fight.
So for those of us out there:
We will be fine, this is true, so we'd better spend this time fighting for those who aren't.
