Feel The Change

More often than not, change comes along and we hardly notice it. Maybe it’s as simple as a street you have used to drive to work for years has been re-routed to make way for a big box store. You notice – tell yourself “wow, this will be great.” Or “oh man, not another one.” Then you move on and don’t really think about it much after that. It becomes part of the routine and even if you did not like the idea of it, you are now shopping there. Then, there are those times that change is so tangible you can feel it pressing on you; while it can be disguised, it still demands to be recognized.

This is one of those times. Recently Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi made a statement. She said in part:

"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco, this kind of rhetoric. ... It created a climate in which violence took place. ... I wish we would all curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements and understand that some of the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statements may assume."

I am nearly fifty years old and in all my life that I can remember, I have never seen protesters bring guns to political events. In part, I feel that it was due to respect for the voice of all people and even some level of respect for the political figure you were protesting or at least the office they held.

Did you feel the change?

Turn on any channel where a conservative pundit or politician is speaking and you will hear the exact same statement worked into their speech. “Americans want the country they grew up with; they want “their” country back to the way it was.” Let’s think about that statement shall we?

According to an August 2008 report by the U.S. Census Bureau, those groups currently categorized as racial minorities—blacks and Hispanics, East Asians and South Asians—will account for a majority of the U.S. population by the year 2042. Among Americans under the age of 18, this shift is projected to take place in 2023, which means that every child born in the United States from this point on out will belong to the first post-white generation.

Did you feel the change?

I’ve heard people of various races say that racism no longer exists, that the problem now is “classicism”. Well, I and many others know that while classicism has been and continues to be an issue, racism is fully alive. Like a cockroach in the night, it survives. It changes its guise, but just like that nocturnal bug it hides from the light of day. But equally and just as well, we are akin to the well trained exterminator, we can find it where it hides and see it for what it is. We know the signs and signals.

“Americans want the country they grew up with: they want “their” country back to the way it was.”

Oh, there it is – you felt the “change”. The Republicans and conservative pundits say this is nothing more that heated political debate over health care. No – this is about the re-fashioned costume that racism is wearing today. This is about a once majority being terrified that they are no longer the majority. They are so afraid in fact that they are willing to do extraordinary things. Things they normally thought they could not get away with; like bringing guns to political debates. Bringing guns to a Presidential speech. It’s one thing to decry a leader for their policies, it is wholly another to portray a black leader as a witch doctor, a savage. The far right white supremacists and racists use the political backdrop to costume their hate.

They feel they are safe in their actions if it is called free speech – but we know it for what it is. Of course when the truth is raised, the far right returns to us with that play ground taunt“…I know you are, but what am I?” Do they really think this will hide their hate? Will it hide their thirst for violence? No and no again, it will not.

My life is not sequestered in a liberal, Democrat only bubble. I have people in my life that are Republicans. While we may stand on opposite sides of some issues, we are clear in what we see here today. Our perspective is shared when it comes to recognizing the rise of violent hate speech fueled not by a “hot political issue” such as health care, but fueled by racism. Either the Republicans on Capitol Hill are blinded by their own rhetoric echoing in their lofty, sealed and secure bubble or they are purposely, with deliberate effort fueling the essence of hatred. Unfortunately, I believe they do this only to raise their partisan political ends. They don’t really care what happens as long as their house stands – even if it means the death of a citizen. Those who do this are void of humanity.

During the last administration I felt as though my patriotism was bastardized. All that represented what America meant to me, what infused our nations symbols like our flag and other iconic emblems was stolen in the night. I had no wish to fly the flag at my home. Today I feel that I have my country back. My patriotism is once again infused with the nutrients that made this a country in the first place. The thing that forces it into the future – a future of humanistic hope. I admit that sometimes we as a species do need a push to evolve our minds and shove our core beliefs to a higher place. A place so high that we can see over and beyond our frailties and failings.

Let’s take a breath and look through newly opened eyes at our astonishing changing country and world. Hold that moment…

Do you feel the change?