Determined White Men

This was a rough week.  It was a tough politically charged and emotionally draining week surrounding the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.  I spent almost every minute on the treadmill this week writing to senators from my cell phone, mostly venting about the ridiculously rushed process, the lack of documents shared, and the role alcohol often plays in sexual assault.  I shared that I believe Ford was assaulted by Kavanaugh and I believe he has no memory of the assault.  I also believe Kavanaugh lied, mislead, and misrepresented his past on several occasions.  But none of that matters to these fearful and determined white men.The election and subsequent behavior of Donald Trump, the continuing actions of the senate, as well as the venomous backlash against President Obama have convinced me that too many white men and some white women, sprinkled with a few people of color, are fearful of losing and determined to retain the privileged position of power for whites in the U.S.

Few will openly admit it (in fact I think the idea horrifies most of them) but we are witness to blatant racism and sexism.  Though they try to disguise racism in more acceptable terms like “color blindness” and “rule of law”, and sexism in terms of “valuing human life” or “letting her have her say”, the underlying harm caused to people of color and women cannot be denied.

I’ve seen many definitions of racism over the years and have come up with my own definition that combines these definitions with my experience.  I define racism as acting on the belief that one race is inferior to another based on prejudice.  A racist act can be as simple as disparaging words or as horrific as murdering a black male based on unfounded fears and looking to find fault with the victim.  It can be finding it acceptable to ignore the humanity of people fleeing violence by evoking the rule of law as justification to separate parents from their young children at the border.  It can be willfully ignoring historical barriers to education and opportunity based on skin color and then calling for color blindness in qualifications for hiring, promotions, or college admissions.   It can be preferring immigrants from Norway rather than Mexico, China, Africa or India when the reality is that talent, morality, drive, and intelligence are not determined by skin color.  The person from a “shit hole” country filled with people of color is just as likely to possess the genius to cure cancer as a person from Norway.  But keeping America white as though that in itself is a virtue is at the heart of racist thinking.

This brings me to the young white males marching with torches shouting, “blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us” last year.  These are racists who believe their superiority comes from their whiteness itself as if God ordained their position.  They and many who voted for Trump, believe America belongs to white people and that they are losing it to people of color.  They feel threatened.  So, what we are seeing are young white men exposing their anger over the realization that they are not actually smarter and better than everyone else and that they must now compete with people of color and women for college admission, good jobs, and position.  They are determined not to lose their power and privilege.  Their racism is based on a sense of entitlement based solely on their whiteness and maleness.  That is what I saw in Judge Kavanaugh this week.  Entitlement based on his privileged place as a wealthy white male.

I define sexism as acting on the belief that one sex is superior and dominant over another.  On full display this week in the Kavanaugh hearing was how sexism operates.  For too many years, men have used women as play objects. While I am glad that those days are coming to an end in this country, what was also evident was that women continue to be expected to be calm, cool, and collected to be credible, while men can blow their tops and be belligerent and disrespectful.  If a woman is sexually abused or harassed in the workplace, she is still expected to be silent or leave unless she has credible witnesses who saw the abuse.  Even when there are multiple accusers, depending on how vehemently the man denies the claims (Trump or Kavanaugh) they will likely get away with their misdeeds. Unless or course you are a black man (Bill Cosby) or a Jewish man (Harvey Weinstein).  Sexism is determining for a woman whether or not she must stay pregnant under the guise of valuing life, but without regard for the pregnant woman’s actual life circumstances or then caring about that life once it is born.

Racism and sexism are on full display.  In the coming days, we will have the opportunity to fight for our future at the polls.  Elections have consequences.  Those who get voted in will make laws that limit or empower the lives of people of color and women.  Those who get voted in will confirm justices to district courts and the Supreme Court.  Those who get voted in will determine whether our laws are enforced fairly or not.  The battle against racism and sexism are fought in the classrooms, the media, the streets, and at our dinner tables, but mostly in the voting booths.  We can’t afford to lose anymore elections.