They Don't Get It
Or maybe they do
As I seek to grow as a writer and increase my reach ($ubscribe AND share plz) I do often speak to more national things as they happen. But as we see more and more, national political nonsense is also local political nonsense— and often they slingshot back and forth.
So this is a local to Louisville thing, but it was no doubt influenced by what has happened nationally and a perceived ‘mandate’ even though citrus dude BARELY won.
But here goes—
Earlier this week, someone I look up to and learn from often, John D. Marshall D. Ed. was called out by the local republican delegation to the statehouse in Frankfort.
Yeah they are SO ANGRY!! That uppity Black dude MUST RESIGN. Now...what did he say that was so egregious to this all white crew of well-off electeds?
OMG SO BAD! How dare he!!
But for real, and in the words of another writer I admire and who you should be paying to $ubscribe to Olivia Krauth, wut?
This is what they think is resignable? Or fireable by the superintendent. Okay sure…
Now the historical perspective of white people and enslavers who engaged in buck-breaking where they try to shut up and shut down the strong looking negros, was covered in the local paper by my guy Ricky L. Jones and you should check that out.
But, I also wanted to speak to the NOW. This type of stuff isn’t new. I have dealt with it and I am far from important so I can only imagine what people like Dr. Marshall or Dr. Jones feel. They come at us and want to knock us down whenever we appear to have strength or do something meaningful.
And what did he do wrong exactly? He provided guidance to people scared of what is to come in a country where millions of people voted to say they think it is cool if we die. This isn’t hyperbole— there are people who feel so empowered to publicly talk about us being killed or sent back to slavery.
As part of the Advisory Council For Racial Equity (ACRE) I posted this statement and shared it with local news outlets:
We need to show support and understanding for what Dr. Marshall said because he said THE TRUTH. And the fact that they were SO CONCERNED with what he said is pretty telling of why that comment was needed in the first place.
That all white delegation who know they can’t run for and win anything in the heavily democratic city of Louisville, saw a chance to make news and seem relevant and do that thing where white people cry racism.
They didn’t read his tweet and reach out and say— “HEY people in our area are feeling scared, how can we help them?”
They didn’t read his tweet and reach out and say— “HEY people in our area are feeling scared, how can we help them?”
No, they wanted to demonize the person people felt safe enough to reach out to and the person who was bold enough to use his platform to issue advice to people who were seeking guidance in dark times.
And that is what they either don’t get, or don’t care to get. There are so many of us feeling lost and fearful of our lives. They have NEVER HAD TO BE IN THAT SITUATION.
They aren’t from marginalized communities. They aren’t poor. They aren’t having their lives legislated and threatened. They are just chillin in their nice homes watching the world burn and they feel fine because they have firefighters on retainer if the flames get close to them.
Not all of us have it like that.
And Dr. Marshall isn’t the only person people look to. People have asked MY thoughts on what they can do and how they can be okay. And I’ve sent those texts and emails too— that is what a community does when it is under attack. Must be nice to sit from a perspective of privilege that doesn’t know what that means or looks like.
But for those of us in those communities under attack, we have to look to each other because the country has failed us and as a co-conspirator to that the media has failed us in allowing us to get here. In The Spite Stack Akilah Hughes talks about just that and also talks about how we can try to survive another 4 years of the forever pumpkin.
I don’t remember acclaimed writers (with actual sense) posting about how non-white people or women could survive Joe Biden.
When I saw the outrage from the republican delegation and demands for firing or resignation I was confused. I hadn’t seen anything that wasn’t a common post or conversation among our community. We even had an unspoken common occurrence election night where millions of us felt like our ancestors woke us with their tears around 3-4am no matter where we were in the country. I am one of them. So when they posted that nonsense, I again was like—wut? And they threw in mentioning his salary because HOW DARE that Black man make a good living? Just disgusting on all fronts. And spoken from a place of supreme privilege.
We are in survival mode and need more people like Dr. Marshall stepping up to make this terrifying time a little less scary. So people reading this who are also scared, terrified, freaked the eff out— you aren’t alone and we got each other. That’s the only option we have right now.
