Charlottesville hurts more than I know how to say.
This is what happens when we treat racism, white supremacy, and nationalism as something that can be ‘tolerated’ or ignored or just talked down. It’s what happens when we don’t listen to our neighbors when they tell us that black lives matter and they need our help. It’s what happens when the vandalism at the mosque down the street is someone else’s problem, not ours. It’s what happens when we see a gunman kill fifty people at an LGBTQ+ dance club and we still watch from the sidelines while bathroom bills and gay discrimination bills get passed. It’s what happens when we don’t take fascism and hate seriously, when we treat it as a mere joke. It’s what happens when we ignore the radicalization of white youth, or when we let racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia just slide. It’s what happens when we stand by and let violence occur in our absence for year after year. Our complacency adds up to this.
Today hurts too much.
If you think this is it … that this is the worst it can get … you are wrong. I wish you weren’t, but you are.
Stand up for your neighbors.
