If liberals really hated America, they’d vote republican—best bumper sticker 2016
After a dismal week, I was feeling pretty good Saturday. I walked around in downtown Sanford, FL—the place made infamous by George Zimmerman—and was ready to do battle with any number of the roaming pickup truck brigade. The place was packed. I saw white people, Latinos, African-Americans, and even two ladies wearing the hijab. Nothing happened. Everyone was getting along, and I thought, “Okay, calm down. Maybe you are overreacting to all of this.”
I went to the local library and turned on my Facebook. My heart sank. One of the men I served with, who lives in the heartland, told us his wife was attacked. He was very upset. (I won't say what state he lives in, cuz it doesn't matter.) Apparently, a deplorable coward in a pickup truck with a Trump/Pence sign yelled a slur for a Chinese person, then turned back around and threw his drink at her. (Again, this doesn't matter, but she's not Chinese.)
This was the wife of the same man who complained about Trump protestors on Thursday and then claimed various acts of graffiti were done by anti-Trump forces to scapegoat Trump on Friday.
He changed his tune on Saturday.
It's easy to give in to my inner demons and say "serves you right". Except, no, it doesn't. First of all, hate crimes affect us all and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. Second of all, his wife is a lovely person who was just trying to walk back from the store in her own damn neighborhood. Trump dismisses these attacks as a few incidents, while simultaneously putting an anti-Semite in the second highest post in the White House.
Well, I got news for the bigots out there. I have long moved past the shock of the election to a new stage: seething rage. These aren't Jim Crow days. Every instance of hate and bigotry is being called out and shared thousands or millions of times. If the GOP wants to go full on-racist, be my guest. Trump might have conned his way into office being a demagogue, but every day you are creating an army of activists in a nation with fast-changing demographics moving further and further away from your ignorance.
The silver lining to this horror show is that people finally realized that civil rights can never be taken for granted. Now that we are waking up to the reality that those rights are legitimately threatened, we can start to mobilize. Maybe those hundreds of thousands of marchers in cities across America will take it to the next level and start volunteering at Democratic organizations and institutions to fight back.
Unfortunately, for now, this is Trump’s AmeriKKKa. This means that for the coming days and months, many of you are going to witness something ugly. You need to be ready for it.
You need to keep in mind these four things:
1. Don't be a bystander. You don’t have to engage—and in most cases you shouldn't. But if you are able, stand or sit next to the victim. Trust me, this will help a lot. An artist made an entire illustration on how to handle this (on the main graphic above). It speaks specifically about Islamophobia but applies to any incident.
2. Video. Record. If you are safely able to. Don't assume someone else will. Incidents will help the victim make a report if he or she chooses to.
Sorry, guys, America has already spoken and decided it is not cool with hate crimes. All but five states have laws on the books, and then there are federal laws, which carry severe penalties. Maybe you are counting on a Trump administration to not prosecute, but here’s reality: 1) Even if you somehow escape state level prosecution for videotaped evidence—and the reality is that is rare—on the fed level it will take quite awhile for Trump to pollute the Justice Department with hacks. 2) The hacks are there for Trump. They will not waste valuable political capital on trying to defend videotaped assaults for you yokels. You’ll be under the bus.
Besides, worst-case scenario: if the tape is ignored by the prosecution, it won’t be ignored by social media. Nor will it likely be ignored by the yokel's employers (if he has one.)
3. Stay with the victim after the attack. At the very least, if you don’t do #1 or #2, when the bigot goes away, offer support. Shock and adrenaline kick in, and the victim might need help. Offer to make a call to their friends or loved ones. Offer to buy them water. Offer to call the police—although respect their wishes if they don't want to. Many times the victims of these attacks are fearful of the police. Give them this link to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): https://www.splcenter.org/reporthate
If nothing else, at least tell them you saw what happened and you are disgusted by it. This goes a long way.
4. Fight the culture of racism. Confront it when you see it. This includes social media. Some people say they want to respect other's opinions. Well, an opinion is "I don't like coffee," not, "I don’t like Arabs." This talk festers into hate when people are silent. Sometimes it’s a joke about killing Muslims, or "proudly" displaying the confederate flag on their car. I hate having uncomfortable conversations with people I’ve worked with or hung out with, but I realize that I might be the only person to speak up who they will at least pretend to listen to. I don’t care if you rant about locking up Hillary or bashing Democrats, but I damn sure care if you promote hate speech that could impact my family.
Lastly, donate or volunteer to one of many organizations that combat bigotry: the Anti-Defamation League, the ACLU, the SPLC, CAIR, etc.
Progress is always two steps forward, and one step back. We took a huge step back on 11/9, and we have some rough times ahead. Yet we will get through this.
You should know that you are not going through this alone. Make sure any victim of a hate crime you witness knows this as well.