bleudaysblacknights-blog

[bleudaysblacknights-blog]

So for the past few days I have been engaged in a Facebook discussion with several cousins who I haven't seen in years.  They are staunch republicans, and I posted something on my page about how political satire and political humor cannot be equated with racist jokes.  Up until now, I have not posted a whole lot of political stuff on Facebook.  I realize that it is not the best platform for that kind of discussion, and I live in a deeply red state, so I don't have a lot of people who will agree with me. But people had been posting all sorts of right-wing propaganda about how Trump is so mistreated by the media and the entertainment industry, and therefore Roseanne Barr's racist tweets should be tolerated as free speech by a comedian.  I just didn't feel like staying silent when I was coming across post after post of blatantly racist crap.  Well, needless to say, the cousins all chimed in, and before it was over I was caught up in a cyclone of conservative, conspiracy theory nonsense.  And, because by this time these people were posting their propaganda on my page, backing down or walking away just didn't seem.....right.  So I engaged.  And engaged.  And engaged. I went out of my way to be respectful and straightforward, refusing to get caught up in pointless insults or sniping, but we wound up chasing more than a couple of right-wing squirrels. Most of their comments were civil enough, although one of them made a deliberate effort to push my buttons.  One or two of my other friends chimed in a couple of times, but for the most part, we were left to our discussion.  So far things have been fairly quiet today, but I wonder if this evening they will get fired up again.  I hope not.  I'd rather close the book on this little exchange.

But here's the thing.....some of the stuff they were saying was really, really offensive.  Clearly, they spend a substantial amount of time feeding on Trumpian foolishness and Info-Wars-caliber trash.  And I have no misgivings about the likelihood of ever changing their minds about anything. But when people are posting information that is absolute falsehood or inflammatory racism, I think that it is important to draw a line.

I read something the other day that really struck a nerve with me. It was a remark about "cultural power", and how right now, with Trump in the White House and a Republican Congress, it is all that we have. And it occurs to me that each of us indeed has a measure of cultural power, because we all have friends, colleagues, even hostile republican cousins....who are, even unconsciously, listening to what we say and watching how we behave. They may not agree with the ideas we communicate, but what they observe speaks to who we are and what we believe about our place in the world. Social media can be an important part of using that cultural power, but we have to be careful of how we conduct ourselves in that forum, because if we are unkind, or angry, or unsympathetic, even towards people whose opinions we loathe, it robs us of that power that we so desperately need right now.

I guess what I am suggesting, is that even in the face of ignorance and unconscionable bias, it's so important for us to remember who we are.  We are compassionate.  We believe in equity and empathy and understanding.  Let them peddle hate if that is their thing, but we can refuse to buy in.  Because these days are going to eventually pass, and the world as we know it will step back into the light.  Between now and then, if we can keep our dignity, and hold our tongues, there will be no reason for them to question our motives or doubt our commitment to building a better world. It may not be easy, but continuing to take the high road is the only way that we can maintain the integrity of the cultural power we still possess. Raising our voices and name calling may be gratifying, but it draws attention away from the good we are doing, and attracts criticism and doubt that we are actually who we claim to be. The world is watching, friends. The right is going to try to make us sink to their level, but we belong on the high road.  If we're all wallowing around in the mud, it gets hard to tell the good guys from the bad.