In Defense of Our Neighbors

In the days following the presidential election, one prevailing sentiment from the right - that is, those people who have set themselves in opposition to the “left”, for lack of any better definition in this shifting landscape of values that we inhabit - has been that the left suffers from TDS, or Trump Derangement Syndrome. Those of us who have raised the alarm about an impending authoritarian regime in America are mocked as delusional, hysterical, suffering from psychosis. “It’s just a joke” is the common response to any expression of outrage.

I hope that proves to be the case. I hope that the Republican party, in its mission to remake America in its own image, does not forget about justice. I hope that all the messaging to the contrary is just so much kayfabe - the script that we are supposed to believe/not believe while the action unfolds before us. However the real actions of Republicans and their various fellow travelers do not give me confidence that justice will prevail. So my question to all the people who celebrate the results of this election, and the power that has been handed to Donald Trump and those who support him, is what will you do if our fears are not unfounded?

Justice is a nebulous concept which we can twist into all sorts of strange shapes, but, like pornography, we do know it when we see it. So let’s assume that we all know what we mean when we talk about justice. We mean that no one is left behind. We mean that we take care of each other. We mean that we defend the weakest against the strongest. We mean that we will do these things even for people and groups that we do not agree with, or who live lives that are different from ours, or who do not believe in the same ideals, or the same gods, or the same laws. This idea is fundamental. Every other freedom, or right, or responsibility that we may have stems from it. It crosses cultural, social, and national boundaries. 

One of my personal heroes is a man named Walt Woodward. He and his wife Millie were remarkable people. Walt wrote a column for the Seattle Times for many years, but before that, starting in 1940, he published The Bainbridge Island Review, a local newspaper serving the community of an island near Seattle. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, establishing internment camps for American citizens of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast, citizens from Bainbridge Island were among the first Americans to be relocated to the camps. The Bainbridge Island Review was the only English-language newspaper to speak out against the order. They did so in the face of intense criticism, and against nearly universal public sentiment in favor of the internment. 

Walt remained steadfast in his opposition to the internment order throughout the war. The Bainbridge Island Review published accounts by the interned members of the community so that their experiences and voices would be heard, even if faintly against the roar of racism and xenophobia which dominated. His biography, written by his daughter Mary, is titled “In Defense of Our Neighbors”.

What will you do?

My family is not likely to be threatened by any shift of American politics. We don’t stand out in any way. If we hang an American flag in front of our house, which we do every summer, we will pass unnoticed by even the most extreme defenders of right-wing ideology. But we are close friends with a family who stand out in every possible way - a white lesbian couple with three children, one of whom is adopted, Black, and six feet tall. They are lovely people with diverse opinions and beliefs. Their children are amazing, talented, intelligent, and kind. But they are not safe in America today. I say this not out of unfounded fear, but based on experiences that they have related to me. 

Various conservative people that I know have scoffed at the idea that liberals would not be safe in conservative, rural, areas. They claim that such fears are the product of liberal paranoia. For myself, I agree with that claim. I expect that I could walk into most bars in most small towns in America, and if I kept my head down, and didn’t start talking about Black Lives Matter or transgender rights, I could have a beer and strike up a conversation in complete peace and good will.

But my friends? The lesbian couple and their children, and all the others who do not conform to some conservative likeness? No chance. They would not be welcome. They would not be safe. 

You may think of liberals as “out of touch elites”, you may disagree with our politics, our lifestyle, our choices, and our supposed inability to understand the lives of people who do not share our worldview - but there has never been a place or time in America where conservatives have been in danger from liberals just for holding conservative ideals. The very real threats emanating from the right do not promise that the same will hold for those on the left who do not fit the conservative mold for individuals and families.

So, what will you do? What will you do to protect my friends and others who do not look like you, do not think like you, do not believe in your gods, do not agree with your laws? Will you stand by and watch if they are threatened by the policies and actions of our new administration? Or will you stand up for justice?

What will you do?