I'm glad to find a post I really want to repost on here. I rarely publicly add my two cents on political posts - on one hand, it's because I've allowed myself to be conditioned to be scared to share my opinion (because of the government and censorship/monitoring of social media platforms), and on the other because there are people who are more informed than I am, and it's better to uplift their voices than speaking over them, but I just seriously think people really need to rethink the messaging that this is somehow "new".
Yes, it is shocking. Yes, it is traumatic. No, it is obviously not okay and we should be working towards a general strike, pressure our politicians to condemn these consistent abuses of power and those who are responsible need to face trials and charges, support mutual aid and directly donate to helping those most at risk, and find ways to actually be there for our communities and create visible, helpful change. But we cannot let this be another series of protests that we move on from in a couple months and call it day. We cannot act like this will suddenly be over after the midterms, or the 2028 election. That's why we're still here. That is why our taxpayer dollars are still funding wars and genocides overseas too. I have been on the internet and politically aware for the past 10-12 years, and it ENRAGES me to no end that this happens multiple times a year, in all 25 years of my life, and all the time before that, and barely ANYTHING has been done to fully prevent this kind of shit at home or abroad. It is ALL preventable. We literally spend billions on harming and killing people instead of saving them.
I think it is hurtful to all the minorities since America's beginning that have endured violence at the hands of our law enforcement and government to act like America is suddenly at a turning point it hasn't been at before. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I have felt threatened in my own country by my government and those in society who unquestionably defend its actions for years. More people are just suddenly aware of it, and now feel that it directly affects them, because the most recent victims were white Americans. And it's still good that people are aware, but I need people to keep that anger and energy up for ALL the people who are killed by our government anywhere, regardless if you can "relate" to them in some way, regardless if they're an immigrant or not, undocumented or not - otherwise it's never going to get any better. And go back through real history books and educate yourselves, this has happened in America for centuries and it's not just fascism from 20th century Europe. Our fascism and bigotry is homegrown. Even further back our country started with violent colonization by Europeans, who are the ancestors of a lot of white Americans.
This was always eventually coming for everyone, because we sat back and let it happen to anyone. Because in all of our 250 years, we have not seriously healed the wounds that have been inflicted on others, nor taken responsibility for them. Because a lot of ignorant people thought they were safe, that it didn't affect their "group", and that they weren't an "other", so it didn't affect them personally. That we didn't need to learn it because we personally thought we didn't contribute to bigotry, yet sat in our ignorance and inaction, turning a blind eye until it was trendy to post about it every couple years.
We can't dismantle it and achieve liberation for all until we really, truly begin to face that, learn that, and teach that, regardless of how "uncomfortable" it may make us feel. If we can sit with it, actually do the work, and help heal this country and stop its wars, we may just have a chance to save it by allowing a full diversity of voices a seat at the table, and then we may finally have a chance to make it a safe and truly equal place. For all of us.
