I keep hearing and seeing a ton of blaming and finger pointing.
“If you voted for Jill or Gary, this is your fault!” “White women who voted for him are the problem.” “The FBI cost her the election.”
No. We did this. We let this happen. We watched and we did nothing. Until it was too late.
After a week of soul searching, that is the conclusion I came to.
We did this.
I didn’t speak up, I shared memes and articles. I got into Facebook comment wars. I didn’t do anything.
Well, I voted, which is more than half the country did. But, before that I sat at home and did nothing to fight the ugly and the hate. Instead, I shared it.
We have to do more than put on safety pins and post our rally cries. We have to get out and peacefully protest. We have to show up and act on the words we are sharing. Sitting back and being complacent is what got us here.
What else do we have to do? Accept that our privilege exists and do more to accept those that are different from us. Tolerance isn’t enough, tolerance is a backhanded compliment. We have to accept and love the differences between us. What’s more important is that we have to make others feel, welcomed, accepted and loved.
We have to learn that the struggle of our neighbor is our struggle. And, more importantly, we have to learn how to bridge those differences or we are never going to move forward. Because the only way we will ever move forward is if we do it together.
Stop blaming. Stop pointing fingers. Let’s use our energy to fight back and stand strong for what we know is right.