Read on Twitter
Thread: So. Hearing a lot about how we have to listen to the concerns of Trump supporters. That they feel abandoned and unheard. I get it, I do. But I think these folk don& #39;t all fit into the same category. There are Trumpers who consistently vote against their own interests...
The poor who will get poorer, etc. Those who are motivated by scary and sensational disinformation campaigns....to me these are the ones I can actually wrap my mind around. But then there are the others. Like the ones I& #39;m surrounded by in SW Florida. These people are not poor...
Not by a long shot. They have multiple cars, multiple BOAT LIFTS...they have worked hard, yes, and want to keep their money. They don& #39;t like paying taxes. They& #39;re anti-abortion. They& #39;re "Christians". Fair enough. But when someone like @RickSantorum goes on @CNN and says....
that we should listen to them...I DO listen to them. I am literally SURROUNDED by them. And mostly, they& #39;re nice enough people...until that MOMENT. They use the "N" word. They spew disinformation and MEAN IT. They believe this stuff. Their big motivations, apart from the taxes...
which they can WELL afford (more so than me) and the abortion, is FEAR. And their FEAR seems to be largely of the "someone will take something away from me" variety. Money, land, benefits, jobs...they all worry this "other" is gonna come in to their lives and take their s**t.
But they say these things in my presence because they aren& #39;t talking about me. In these scenarios, I& #39;m their ally. They& #39;re enlisting me in the circling of the wagons against this "other" that& #39;s coming to invade their way of life. But it& #39;s not me, because I& #39;m a white woman....
When I am around these people, add a bit of booze and it is usually only a matter of time before THE MOMENT when racial slurs come out. Someone alludes to things being "taken over" or "infested". ALWAYS. So when I hear a prominent pundit say I need to "listen to their concerns"
...what if at the core of these "concerns", there is a nuclear, glowing ball of racism and xenophobia that is embedded so deeply and unconsciously, and constantly validated by calling people who DON& #39;T use that language "politically correct"...What then? These folk KNOW fine well
they shouldn& #39;t talk like this. But they DON& #39;T CARE enough to stop. Why is it MY responsibility to reach-out EVERY TIME to someone who calls people "NIGGERS" behind closed doors (in a new-ish neighborhood where we just got our first black family no less-and I& #39;m worried about them)
Why can& #39;t the three remaining considerate Republicans on Earth be more vocal and TALK TO YOUR PEOPLE YOUR DAMN SELVES. YOU have their ears, not me. I& #39;m listening to these folk, and all I hear is fear and racism, in all of its forms, & they don& #39;t respect my "political correctness"
It is IMPOSSIBLE to work towards unity if you don& #39;t even stand up to the bad behaviour that is going on IN YOUR OWN PARTY, FROM THE TOP DOWN. You need to start denouncing the hate speech and violence LOUDLY. EVERY TIME. UNFAILINGLY. There can be no mistake that this is NOT OK.
So forgive me if I get ornery when so-called "conservative leaders" tell me to try and understand my racist angry Trumpy neighbors when they themselves have shown no aptitude for being a part of the solution. YOU are the ones they look up to, not me. These people...
just see me as a silly snowflake lib, and unless inspired to be better by someone they actually will listen to, they will continue to act up until the day they die. Which sadly may come sooner than they think because naturally, none of them wear masks or social distance.
