Friday, January 20, 2017

DIARY OF A TEENAGED LATINA SINCE THE 2016 ELECTION


Before we get to it. Let me tell you something: TRUMP LOVES HATE 

TRUMP SUPPORTERS LOVE HATE TOO.

 WHITE SUPREMACY DOESN'T REQUIRE HATE TO FUNCTION. BUT HATE FUNCTIONED WELL INSIDE THE MAJORITY OF WHITE VOTERS DURING THE LAST ELECTION.
There's no way to look past, or ignore, or decide something else is more important than the people who can ignore the plight of their neighbors and chant "Build That Wall." That's hate. Being able to be affiliated with a group that encourages that means you're hate-filled yourself or dead to hate because it's hiding in you somewhere. The only ethical choice a republican had this election -- if they believed every single thing painted on Hillary over the years at Faux News-- was to not vote at all. 

 EVEN THE SUPPORTERS THAT HELD THEIR NOSES AS THE VOTED FOR HIM should be seen as hate-filled whether they are or not. Trump supporters are as deadly to us just as the overseers and poor whites that surrounded the slave plantations, waiting to turn in and report slaves for running away 200 years ago.  The system of slavery absolutely didn't work without 90% white participation back then -- and that's while only a small fraction of white people owned slaves. 

 Today, the system of white supremacy apparently works with 57% of white people voting to keep it in place.  In case you are wondering, yes, I believe 57% white voters represents 57% total adult white population. 

 In fact, if both sides were the same on abortion rights etc, white women would have voted for Trump at a rate of 63 to 66%, maybe more than white men -- if my anecdotal evidence can be believed. I know where I live. I know who I'm talking to day-to-day. There's a reason white feminists are having a hard as hell time trying to be intersectional, arguing among themselves with large numbers of white women who CHOOSE to believe that "Black Live Matter" means "Black Lives Matter ONLY" instead of "Black Lives Matter TOO"  

When you believe a group of people not like you are of low character and low integrity, why wouldn't you believe "Black Lives Matter" means "Black Lives Matter ONLY" instead of "Black Lives Matter TOO?" That's how white supremacy works: You believe you are of superior ethical/moral stock and you curse others not like you and yours accordingly. 
And when you only care about those inside your white bubble, you think this is just more right / left political shenanigans. Inside the white bubble, you don't care that people are going to be destroyed and that some will actually die.  And the teenage girl who submitted her diary entries for us to read understand this.
These diary entries should be seen as representing the outcome of hate OR e-race-sure - OR just plain lack of empathy, a lack of empathy so huge that it is justifiably defined as "evil." 

 Angelina Alvarez 's diary entries just broke my heart and and enraged me at the same time

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Feeling Rebloggy

HEADLINE


‘Don’t tell me it’s going to be OK’: diary of a Latino teenager in the age of Trump
from THE GUARDIAN

Angelina Alvarez fought pro-Trump graffiti by wearing a Dump Trump shirt to school. After he won the election, she kept a diary about her life and feelings

Election Day – 8 November
Trump won … I don’t even know what to think. I’m just scared, I want to be with my grandma right now and just hug her. My grandma that came here as an immigrant, who worked hard, who was able to buy a home, who sent her kids to college, who later became documented. How can people hate someone like her? 
I’m looking at my friend’s Snapchat stories and seeing that even a few of my “friends” are excited that he won. I ask them why they hate themselves. Unsure how to answer, they delete their stories. I’m just thinking about all of the families that are going to be affected by this. I pray that we all stay strong and do not back down to any of the obstacles we have ahead of us. It is such a disappointment. Our country is a disappointment.
9 NovemberIt was so uncomfortable at school today … I had my classes that have the biggest Trump supporters in my school. They were surprisingly dead silent, all of them. They didn’t look at me and I didn’t really look at them. I wonder why they were so quiet though, it scares me honestly but I don’t know why. 
My sister and friends told me that they saw a lot of people wearing their Trump gear and congratulating each other. I didn’t want to be there, I just wanted to go home. My stomach was uneasy and I didn’t even want to eat lunch. I couldn’t think in class, I couldn’t stay focused. I wanted to run home and just lay in my bed. 
Is this really my neighborhood or am I an intruder? 
One of my friends that I’ve known since I was in kindergarten, whose mother is undocumented, saw my sister and broke down sobbing. And I just read a post from another friend, she and her mother were taunted by junior high kids yelling “Trump” and “Go back to Mexico”. This is happening here, at my school, in my neighborhood. Is this really my neighborhood or am I an intruder?

10 NovemberThis morning I got a message from a teacher that we were having a meeting to talk about everything that’s going on with Trump. I love that our teachers care about us and how we are feeling. In reading all the posts that people are putting up I feel sad that they are alone and wish they could join us. 
I took a couple of my friends to the meeting. At first, there were only about 10 people – 15 minutes later there were about 100 of us. I felt so liberated and happy seeing everyone walking in. My heart was beating so fast I wanted to cry, I wanted to hug everyone. Seeing everyone in solidarity made me so proud, it made me feel hopeful. 
About 10 students spoke up and talked about not being scared, to unite and to prove the Trump supporters wrong. I wanted to get up there and point out that it’s not just Trump – he has all these followers behind him that are capable of worse things. I want to compare our situation with what the Jews must have felt when Hitler went from being a joke to being their leader. The pigment of our skin and the accent in our voice is like the star on their clothing.





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