I'd like to talk for a minute about something important. First, let's take a look at some of the stuff Trump does.
He actively works to support causes pursuing prevention and treatment for everything from AIDS & HIV, to poverty, slavery & human trafficking. He committed $20-million to establish the USC Institute for State and Global Policy, which is devoted to seeking bipartisan answers on environmental, economic, and other public-policy issues. He's actively fighting against gerrymandering and speaking out against white supremacy and hate.
Oh, my bad, that's all Arnold Schwarzenegger. As Governer of California he also signed a bill creating the nation’s first cap on greenhouse gas emissions and didn't accept his $175,000 salary.
He's an immigrant, activist, humanitarian, and philanthropist. He's contributed more to our society than Trump ever will, and under Trump's proposed immigration laws, he would never make it into the country. He's also one of the only Republicans for whom I have a lot of respect. We live in a country where the Terminator has spoken out more strongly than our president against hate and white supremacy, has done more for the environment and society in general than our president.
Why do you, Trump supporters, listen to a man who has never done anything for anyone other than himself? Why do you listen to someone who lies constantly, disparages immigrants (who, by the way, built this country) like Schwarzenegger, who actually take part in our society and contribute to it? Why do you listen to someone who *actually defends Nazis*? You can try to tell me that he denounced them, but the next day he tried to lay the blame on people protesting for civil rights, after the NAZIS killed someone on American soil?
Our country is hurting, and it's been hurting for a long time. The problem is that many people have been blind to it until recently because it hasn't affected them, or at least it hasn't had the visibility that it now has. Immigrants are not our enemy. People of color are not our enemy. People with disabilities are not our enemy. Non-binary people are not our enemy. Non-straight people are not our enemy. People are scared by what they don't understand, and we have someone who is supposed to be leading this nation who doesn't understand anything outside of his very rich, very white bubble, and he's making the problems in the country worse because he's scared of everything.
Avoiding talks about race, gender, disabilities, sexuality, etc, is *not* what is going to heal us. We need to have these conversations, even if they're difficult and make you uncomfortable. We have to address the ugly history of this country, all the way back to our ancestors who originally immigrated here and committed genocide against the indigenous people, and understand the systemic problems, and the plight of the disenfranchised, before we can make progress.
Ask yourself the following questions, and really give the answers some thought:
Do I hate any particular group of people?
Do I think any person deserves fewer rights for any reason at all?
Do I think someone deserves to die because they're poor?
Do I think someone deserves fewer opportunities simply because they're born into poverty?
Do I think that the freedom to live without persecution is something that everyone deserves?
Do I think it's acceptable to tell another person that they do not have the right to exist?
My guess is that almost everyone will be in agreement on all of those. Figuring out how to solve our differences is just logistics, not ideological, although the current political climate wants to make it that way. Look past politics, and have the difficult conversations. Prepare yourself to face some ugly truths. Especially if you're white, be prepared to admit the horrors that our forebears have inflicted upon other people, and be prepared to have the discussions about how we can correct the inequalities that have resulted from it. Nothing worth doing is easy, but the only way this country will ever be great, not great again because it never has been (it's only been great for some), is if we put in the hard, uncomfortable work, and stand together as Americans regardless of our differences. Avoiding the conversations is not the solution.
Please don’t think this is directed only at “conservatives,” because it isn’t. There’s ignorance, classism, and racism on all sides, and everyone has uncomfortable truths to face, but only one side is supporting this President, and he’s a big part of the problem right now.
We're all human. We're all the same. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.
#VetsVsHate
