I will not be silent

I grew up in a home where multiple generations would hold forth on how Jews and Blacks and "those people" really were.  As a kid I had to keep quiet and let it go.  The incoming president and his congressional allies are normalizing all manner of hatred and prejudice.  I refuse to be silent this time.

This means I will remind those who voted for this man that  they are accomplices to misogyny, bigotry and worse.  

I can hear the retorts now, "I thought you were tolerant?"  Tolerance is not being tolerant of hate.  I refuse to acquiese to that sophomoric linguistic trick.  To stand for things means you must stand against other things when the time comes.  That time is upon us and I will not play nice.

There are some who would have me be silent, to not speak out about the evil that is likely to come from all of this.  They claim I should not point out to those who voted for this person, that they are accomplices in his work.  That pointing this out is hateful.  They go so far as to say my holding people accountable for their actions, is what is wrong with America.  Another attempt to make the one crying for justice sound somehow unjust.  

No what is wrong is that we've given bigots, white supremacists and homophobes permission to act and say what they wish.  We've not confronted them in order to keep harmony in our homes, our workplaces and places of worship.  That ends now.  I will not be silent in order to keep the peace.  

Peace is not just the absence of but the precence of justice.  Any peace we've had in my life came from increasing the justice in our nation.  There is a great deal of justice work that will be undone by this corrupt man and his cronies.  He is only getting the chance to undo these things, because a good many white folks, angry at their lot in life, voted for someone willing to take out their anger on the vulnerable and marginalized.  They voted to scapegoat innocents so that they could feel better about themselves.  

I heard this scapegoating before from people I love.  As a kid I knew it was wrong but was unable to do anything about it.  

Never again will I be silent.