With recent events in Charlottesville, and the rising of the Nazi Party in the United States, I have come across people saying, “I had no idea things were getting so bad.” As a minority this can come as a slap to the face. We have people fighting for their right to exist, while others march for their right to remove our existence.
It took the murder of Heather Heyer (33) for people to open their eyes and see the hatred in the eyes of hundreds of men and women. Hundreds with one desire, the desire for an all-white-Christian nation. According to them, that is. I am heartbroken to see the events that have past. My partner’s grandparents fled Poland during WWII, and I had family fight in the war. We defended our soil, as well as fought along other nations, to take down the Nazi threat. A threat so bad that we still mourn today the deaths of many Jews, Blacks, Gays, Disabled people, and other minorities, that did not fit the Nazi’s ideal of perfection.
Wake up. Your small town, your progressive city, your unaffected life, is being shaken by something that minorities face every single day, just for existing.
When a man put the barrel of his gun to my temple, screaming that I was a “faggot”, I was shaken.
I was shaken when four grown men decided to shove me and call me “pretty boy”, “homo”, “fag” and worse.
When I sit here and see on the news another LGBT person has been murdered, another black person has been murdered, another Native American has been beaten, another minority is dead... I am shaken.
Going outside my front door means risking my life. I say I am lucky to live in a somewhat progressive city, Dallas, Texas, but it was this city that those four guys singled me out for wearing a turtle neck (to cover my tattoos during work). It still happens, even in my oh, so progressive city. But if you are not underprivileged, the likeliness of you seeing what I see, is small.
The sample of the world you see is too small, especially when you are not affected by these things. The entire country is not represented by small progressive towns or cities. If you are one of the privileged who have not been exposed to these issues until Charlottesville, VA, count yourself lucky. For many across the globe, and many in the United States of America, this is our daily lives. We experience hatred for existing.
Think of this like a can of orange juice concentrate. (If you’ve ever had to buy these, or if you at least understand what they are, it’s concentrated juice.)
White supremacists are the juice concentrate, and the rest of us are the water. When there is the rest of us diluting the concentrate there is less juice.
The White Supremacist (“Alt-Right”), Unite The Right Rally, is all the juice concentrated into one area (the can). So, now you can see ALL of the juice, without the dilution of the rest of us (the water).
There has been so much water in between all the juice, that you didn’t see the juice. Make sense?
You have lived your lives up until this point never understanding what minorities were still protesting for, right? Well, now you know. We are protesting still because there is still a large amount of injustice against minorities for merely existing.
The rose-colored glasses have been lifted from your face, so what do you do now?
The United States of America is a land of opportunity, diversity, and freedom. And in many states, this is still true. But, just because you can’t see the moon when the sun is out, doesn’t mean the moon is not there. If you don’t believe me, there is an Eclipse coming up - just saying.
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those they oppress.” - Frederick Douglass
Now that’s cleared up, let’s talk about waking up and opening our mouths. Now is the time to break your silence. Silence is the one thing that stands between oppression and the oppressed. If you realize you are unaffected by the current on-goings, but feel no need to speak up about it? It is time to change that. When you are silent, you by proxy condone the side of the oppressor by never using your voice to step in and stop them.
Passive nature can be something to relish, but when you have the ability to stand or speak for those lesser than you, that are being hurt or oppressed in anyway and you don’t, you are not being passive, you are hurting people by allowing it to happen.
I had the privilege today to speak to another writer who comes from a different background to me. She comes from a world of being the silent majority and has had her eyes opened. Here is what H.L. Cassaday has to say about growing up silent:
“I personally experienced the waking up that a lot of people are doing because of Charlottesville. I grew up in a small town: a small, completely white, privileged, racist town. And in the days before internet, when we still rode bikes till the street lights came on and smart phones were still science fiction, I had little to no chance of learning about the world on my own. But I am lucky. I had great parents who taught me right from wrong and not to hate. Not everyone in my little bubble was. I have numerous memories of class mates dropping the “N” word like it was nothing and bragging of the black kid they had jumped over the weekend. While I never participated and actively disliked those guys, I never did anything about it. I never told them they were wrong and disgusting because I had never hung out with them to see the results of their actions. It was like “locker room talk,” and I had nothing to do with it.
Then in 9th grade, my parents did the best thing they ever could have and moved me out of that town. I sat in a class in my new school surrounded by strangers giving presentations. The assignment was to give a speech on a political view that was personally important to them. The second boy to stand gave his entire speech about how allowing black and white people to marry was evil. I cringed and waited for the laughs and the comments from the back row but that’s not what happened. He was openly opposed, debated, and shamed. I was shocked. I’d never seen that before. It opened my eyes, as Charlottesville is now opening others eyes. I was wrong for never speaking up. I was wrong for ignoring it and I never did again. So if you are just now learning about the true depths of racism and it’s horrid consequences, SPEAK UP. Don’t be afraid to lose a friend. Don’t sit on it because it doesn’t affect you. Believe me, your silence does more than you think.”
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke
H. L. Cassaday is a new writer who typically spends her time working with and promoting other writers. https://hlc027.wixsite.com/inthecomingtime
So, If you can’t take it from a minority, listen to H.L. Cassaday. She’s been there, and if you’re there now, it isn’t too late. You can change, you can grow, and you can open your mouth and be heard. Help stand up against White Supremacy, against Nazis, against the “alt-right” and white nationalists, against the KKK. Be a voice.
I leave you in the last known words of Heather Heyer, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not listening.”
Johannus M. Steger is a published author in a Horror Anthology, a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success, and a Youtuber Personality. His channel gives life advice, as well as writing advice, and is called “Fantasy & Coffee”, after two of his favorite things.