Welp, it’s official. I became a card-carrying member of the Mob today. Well, maybe not the Mob–a Mob might be more accurate.
After much thoughtful consideration, last night we become the proud owners of our first Black Lives Matter sign. Then tonight, after having a measured and appropriate conversation with our daughters, we will install it in our yard with a solemn, yet hopeful family ceremony.
Aww, shit…bet you didn’t see that one coming!1Unless, of course, you read the previous post, Woke Whack-A-Mole, which was entirely about obtaining a sign…or 255. Oh, wait…I decided that will be my next post instead. Well, this will give you something to which to look forward.
On its face, you might be tempted to think that I’m breaking my own principle of broaching the topic of politics. Once you get over the shock of that idea, I ask that you hear me out.
Sorry fam, I love you very much. But I simply can no longer worry so much about possibly offending or alienating you that it holds me back from envisioning and building towards a better world to do, will, and bequeath to our collective kids.2Maybe it’s time for us to revisit A Parenting Parable in light of that last statement.
I hope that even if you don’t share my same views, that you are at least able to hear me with open ears and open hearts.
That being said, I would like to counter the narrative that bringing up Black Lives Matter and explicitly supporting it is “political.”
….which brings me back to my thesis statement, the declaration of my induction into the “mob.”
As you know, the last month has been marked by a historic amount of civic engagement on the part of not only the citizens of America, but of people worldwide.
Yet in response, certain unnamed political and media figures have consistently attempted to frame it as “the mob” or “mob mentality.”
I suppose you gotta respect the clever attempt at dismissing a large swath of our country by simply using such a negative term implying that it’s all mindless mayhem. Nice try, fellas.
I would like to respectfully propose to those Dear Readers that may be tempted to use that term to perhaps reconsider that choice of words. Not like in a gangsta, passive-aggressive kinda way. More like a Mr. Rogers, sincere af kinda way.
First, let me say that I find this disheartening, and somewhat angering. Many people are risking COVID, being met with undue and excessive force, and possibly being unjustifiably arrested. And what is most striking is the incredible proportion of these people that “don’t have a dog in the game,” so to speak.
If you’re risking all of this for your proverbial neighbor with little to personally gain, then I should be skeptical if someone tries to tell me3A little bonus for those of you who actually read the footnotes: I believe the proper phrase here is “if someone tries to jackass-splain to me…” that you’re not doing this without putting any thought into it.
Now I can’t speak for anybody else, but if any of them are anything like me, then maybe my take on the situation can provide some insight for those who might be genuinely wondering what the heck is going on.
I imagine that for many people, there has long been the desire to pursue equity and justice for their fellow Americans, but have been told either directly or via people they care about, that associating yourself with the BLM Movement in any way would essentially amount to an act of political terrorism.
But that false argument is fading fast. Cracks in our country’s self-image are forming, revealing one-too-many uncomfortable truths. It is become more exhausting to look away than not.
Even much more widespread than that is a thirst for some return to basic decency being a defining hallmark of this country. Regardless of your political views, it is incredibly difficult to make an argument that “decency” is any part of our current zeitgeist.4A German word that roughly translates as “the spirit of these times.”
No doubt that as people have watched the BLM Movement become quickly normalized, many thirsty folks have had the same thought that I did:
“How the heck was this ever a political issue?!?”
More people than you might suspect
Whether you suspected me before or not, the point of the story (for now) is: Congratulations! You can now brag to your friends that you personally know a member of The Oh-so-scary Mob.
Just think of me as your token Black Lives Matter friend…
But wait! There’s more!
I’m realizing that I have a lot more thoughts on the topic of next-level civic engagement that I wanted to share, but probably shouldn’t try to tackle them all at once.
I just wanted to at least get the conversation started for now. We’ll have to continue this discussion next week. I hope that you will join me then…
Content created on: 2 July 2020 (Thursday)
Footnotes & References:
I like this line “Cracks in our country’s self-image are forming, revealing one-too-many uncomfortable truths. It is become more exhausting to look away than not.” I’ve been wondering about this as well. I always thought the USA was the greatest country in the world. This time is revealing that this may not be the case.
I think my suspicions started back when I studied abroad in Spain back in 2003. Especially when I got into a conversation with a random Dutch guy, and out of the blue he asked me if I thought it was pretty f*ed up what the US Government had done (and continues to do) to Native Americans. In the U.S. I had never heard anyone even allow themselves to have that thought. I didn’t even realize it was a question that could be asked.
Since then there have been plenty of times that I’ve at least thought “wow, our country could do better.”
“This time” there is just so much overwhelming evidence at once that so many of us take a step back and say, “Oh yeah…I had suspected that ‘racial equality’ and ‘the American Dream’ and ‘America is a Christian nation’ were more falsehoods than truths. Now it’s clear that they are pretty much lies.”