As the National Anthem blared in the background, I found myself paralyzed in deep contemplation. After watching America Divided earlier in the day, I sat there as the song rang loudly over the speaker and thought how this song is defined by other people in America. And I found myself asking, how would the people in Flint Michigan define this song, the victims of hurricane Katrina, the students of Pinellas county, the residents of the NYC still facing discriminatory housing practices, the occupants of the south side of Chicago, ex-factory workers in Detroit or the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe? I want to know how this America, the America we stamped as expendable – would define this anthem?
As the song ended and the crowd took their seats I found myself met with fierce hostility as the man in front of me turned and yelled, “Stupid Fucking Bitch, fucking sitting down during our song.” I sat there frozen and overwhelmed with emotion- but not for the way he accosted me, for I knew it was bigger than me. I held back my tears, because it was at that moment, I was reminded this is the reality of what people in disenfranchised communities face every day. This is our America and this vile ideology permeates deeply within in our cultural makeup. How is it we can boast about the home of the free and the land of the brave, when large sections of the population have been systemically silenced out of the American Dream? If the world is a reflection of what we see, then how can anyone see it as anything other than a politically engineered caste system? The America I see tells me that entire cities can be rendered disposable for nothing more than a bottom line. That state violence can be carried out with impunity. That a president can win an election boasting about sexually assaulting women and overtly promising racist policies. My America tells me that race, religion, gender and sexual orientation do matter.
We are surrounded by powerful forces that benefit from a nation divided. But we as individuals, at the core, are our own worst enemies. To our detriment somewhere along the way we have simply lost the ability to engage in constructive dialogue. So I challenge the gentlemen who greeted me with hostility…
You want to have a conversation about veterans? Great. Let’s talk about the history of US foreign policy and imperialism. Is it not entirely possible to be a pacifist and still empathize with veterans? To honor their unyielding dedication to the American idea, their sacrifices and dangerous deployment? Am I not allowed the same fortitude to criticize the powers at be that put their lives in such peril? You want to have a conversation about race in America? Great. Let’s talk about the history of state violence waged against people of color, how policy is implemented and our current prison industrial complex. We aggressively condemn those that speak out against state violence, yet remain silent while we send them off to sit in jails unable to pay egregious bail from prejudicial police practices. You want to talk about crime in America? Great. Let’s talk about intentionally defunding education, minimum wage and the war on drugs. You want to talk about patriarch? Great. Let’s talk about rape culture and the history of misogyny in this country. Let’s talk about how a man can rape an unconscious women and serve less jail time than a man picked up for a nonviolent drug offense.
What you sir defined as lack of patriotism Einstein would say “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.” I believe silence is a political statement. When we consciously make the decision to remain silent, we are siding with the oppressors. Even if this began as an accidental act of dissent, I left the arena with a very real awakening – is American truly capable of fostering equality?
Challenge The Narrative 