I don’t think it’s unfair to compare those who claim to vote with their stomachs and their wallets with no concern for hate-speech from their politician of choice, to the Confederates who were fighting the Civil War to preserve the institution of slavery while considering themselves to be just and equitable. Those who vote for bigoted politicians who promise less taxes and more jobs don’t realize that their ballot is supporting the same system of oppression that collided with justice and split the country over 150 years ago. That’s why being a non-racist won’t be enough. If we’re to defeat this current round of evil, we’re going to need every American Patriot with a heartbeat to be anti-racist.
Anti-racists resist the system of racism and every institution that supports it. Anti-racists are vigilant over every decision they make, knowing that it may have serious ramifications in the lives of those on the periphery of privilege; marginalized by a construct of whiteness that changes with policy and objective. Anti-racists do not see silence as a means to affirm that they aren’t prejudice against Jewish people, Blacks and immigrants. They know that ‘collective voice’ is the gateway to social revolution and eventually political reform. Laws don’t pass themselves and politicians don’t vote their conscience. Both need to be pushed, nudged; even bullied into serving the will of the people.
With that said, while I rebuke Trump’s gross negligence in chastising Nazism, and I denounce all forms of racism, I stand by the principle that anti-racists must remain morally-bound to civility. Anti-racists cannot allow the oppressor to become his or her teacher by forcing them to exude the same dark energy he or she is aiming to defeat. The anti-racist’s goals as strategic-disrupter, their objectives as the collective conscience of this country mustn’t be achieved while using the same hate-tactics as those we claim to challenge. Any time something can only be achieved through a combination of hate, anger and power then that thing is in reality, very weak.
Be outraged but never angry. Outrage is anger turned constructive, and constructive anger never goes out of style. It is the father of prudence and the gate-keeper to measurable outcomes and tangible results.
Constructive anger is what compelled Mahatma Ghandi to become inspired to use the means by which he confronted his oppressors. And it was his constructive anger that inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to shout a Word of Equity and Justice to this government under the threat of death. Constructive anger in its highest iteration is a type of outrageous love; a love for Truth, for self and for your fellow man. And when understood in its proper context, it can change the world.
The devil plays the same role, he just changes costumes. We’ve seen many of his schemes before, none quite the same as the other, but every last one threatening to dismantle the fabric of all that is right and decent in the world. That is why we cannot give in to our anger. We must attach ourselves to the rope of integrity.
How you get somewhere is just as important as where you’re trying to go. We must ask ourselves at all times, “How are we going?” If we’re trying to get to peace, justice and equity while throwing fists, kicking legs, overturning cars and losing our minds, then the moral authority of our very argument is compromised. We must travel this road with courage, aggressiveness and resilience but also with mindfulness that honors our position as defenders of man’s right to coexist in peace and empathy. If we fail to appreciate that nuance, then it doesn’t matter where we end up because we would’ve lost our souls on the way.