Why you ARE racist.

I'm not going to sit here and say that every single one of you is racist. I will sit here and say that every single one of you has the privilige to look past a person's racist, homophobic, sexist, bigotry and support them anyway because it will not effect you personally. You need to just own that instead of explaining it off.

I have had a lot of friends this week claim that they are not racist. They are not homophobic. They do not hate an entire religion. Your words do not match your claims. Look at this week. Look at your claims. Your feelings about what is going on. Now look back in time when similar situations have happened, and what side do you put yourself on?

In 1920 when women's suffrage was a national movement they were beaten, imprisoned, endured to fight for women's rights. They were the outsiders. The pained and oppressed. Then there were the ones imprisoning them. Silencing them. Put out by them. Inconvenienced.

In the 1950s when Martin Luther King Jr. began his activism for equality for the black community do you think he was welcome with open arms? Do you think the kindly walked on the side walks while their  marches took over the streets? Do you think they didn't try to silence them? To deflect? No. People fought for this. Died for this.

40 years ago when LGBT began their fight for equal rights do you think it was accepted? Do you think they were treated kindly. Even till recently when they finally won the fight for marriage equality?

When Native Americans are protesting with prayer and peace and they are being gassed and in-prisoned yet a group of white men take over federal land armed to the teeth and have no charges.

In every movement and every protest there are the silencers. There are the oppressors. There are the people who are put out and inconvenienced. Protests aren't meant to go unheard. They aren't meant to be done on the time of the people they are fighting against. None of these things would have changed if they sat quietly by and said "please sir give me my rights."

You can say you are not racist. You can say you are not homophobic. You can say you are not a bigot, but by remaining silent you are. You are the oppressor. By saying "people are whiny and just need a trophy." "This is why you spank your kids." You are tone policing marginalized people. You are silencing their pain and voices. You are choosing the side of the oppressor. You may not agree with it, but by writing off their personal feelings and their voices you are exactly what you say you are not. Own that. Realize it. They are fighting against the open bigot and they are fighting agains the ones silencing them.

You say you are not racist yet I have seen a video shown by so many of a white man being beaten by two people of color. You are outraged. You say "look they are violent." Yet you have been silent on a women being beaten by two white men and having her hijab stolen. You have been silent on the schools where kids are chanting "build that wall." You have been silent when people's property has been defaced with hate and they are afraid to leave their homes. Women who have never left their house without their hijab are walking out the door without it and you are silent. You are turning a blind eye to the hate that has happened in our history and the increase of hate that has happened this week and you only speak up when you see a chance to pounce because a white man was beaten and see you are all wrong and should be voiceless.

So you say you are not racist? That is good. Then lift up their voices. Listen to their pain. If you really want to be for all americans than don't silence millions who have finally gotten their voices in the past decade. Movements happen when oppressed people have enough and decide to stand and fight back together. Listen. Don't write them off. Care. Take a seat for once. Don't try to say "well christians are..." Don't finally speak up when it's a white person being hurt. Stand up for all.  Acknowledge the reason people are afraid.

Words matter. Hateful threats are not words we can look past. Banning a religion is not just words. Making blanket statements about entire races is not just words. Objectifying women is not just words. This is an atmosphere that people have fought and died to move on from and you are setting it back by saying "it's just words."

I will not allow my children to be "color blind" because they have the privilege of saying they don't see color since they are not told they are less than for theirs. I will not let them silence other's pain. I will not sugar coat our history. I won't tell them "I don't know how this happened." I know exactly how this happened. Lets be and raise people who hear the voices of others even when it's not something we personally experience. Let's just listen and look in on what we have done and what we can do. God didn't just make the white christian. He didn't just make the americans. So if you claim you walk with Jesus than care for the ones suffering around you.