Last night a good friend contacted me. I have known them as a strong progressive for a very long time. They are a reliable, strong Democratic voter. They donate to good causes. They advocate for social change. In every action I have ever been with them, they have worked to help advance the progressive cause.
When I heard from them, though, they were troubled. As a small business owner, self-employed, they work on enough small projects throughout the year that they do well for themselves, but they are not independently wealthy. The projects can vary, from building a deck to repairing a porch, fixing flooring in a room to building carports, and repairing a home. I’ve seen their work and it is quite good. The phone call began with a sense of concern. And then a question. Living in Kansas, many of the people around us may be very conservative Trump supporters. When he books work, the work he books often comes through other contractors and is assigned to him. He goes out and evaluates the work, proposes and estimates, and then commits a crew to do the work. During the day yesterday, appearing at a job site, the homeowner made comments about his dislike of “liberals” and his support of Trump. He didn’t want to know. “I didn’t feel like I could say anything, I had a crew that needs to be paid, and I need to be paid.” At night, however, the question still unsettled him: how do we expand our values into our own daily lives.
Since thinking about this, I have wondered a lot about how we can improve the interactions around us. A progressive in his daily life found himself in the company of an all-white audience, including an individual who had contracted and agreed to pay for his work, and the work of his team for that day. What would his response be? To go on the offense, and call out the behavior? Or, would he choose to stick to the work and avoid the owner? In the end, he chose to stay quiet, get the work done, and leave.
I wished I had better, more honest answers to give. I thought about myself in that situation. A father of a few younger kids who needed the work, and others who relied on me to get paid. What would I do?
Part of the difficulty we have as progressives is that the white community struggles to confront each other. Too many things — and sometimes Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — rest in the way of us doing the right thing. Your political affiliation is not a protected class. You can absolutely be terminated for it from a job. As an independent contractor, my friend could be told to go away without any reason at all.
What sacrifices do we find that we are willing to make to advance efforts to equality? A few days ago, I wrote about the fact that we simply cannot protest alongside of persons of color as shields, go home, and when we greet our family and friends stay quiet when white communities say or promote racist ideas. We have to be willing to have a stand-up culture that when we see something, we do something.
Today, boards will be going down and a deck will be built. 3 men will be out working in the sun. All progressives. All will take the money and leave. All of them will wonder: how do we do this better? How can progressive business owners and employees do more?
Did the need to pay his crew and get paid buy his silence? Or did the fact he was able to make money off of a Republican’s hand and give it to good causes help? He wasn’t sure. The fact was, he had never considered it. And, since that phone call, I have considered it overnight and throughout the morning. I’m not sure I have a better answer than he does.