After approximately two and a half weeks with the 45th President of the U.S.A. I am seriously at a loss for the right words to convey the utter confusion and exasperation I feel almost daily. When people voiced their exasperation with the loss of livelihoods during the 44th Presidential term, I listened and understood their concerns. What I didn’t really get was how the practises of the Republican nominee could be overlooked because of his vociferous voice for change based on the marginalization of seemingly every group of people who were not of white, European descent. I mean, really. You want me to overlook a person’s own words, which have not changed in content at all, when many can not look past the words, actions, mistakes of people different from them the world over. Many view the actions, words, and mistakes of people different from them to be all that defines them, that there is no change of heart or personality no matter what happens in that person’s life later. People of color are painted with a broad brush colored by any past misdeeds and placed before the world as a strategic problem of their ethnic origins or country of origin. White people of European descent on the other hand are often portrayed as acting alone, mentally ill, and hardly ever branded as terrorists. In America today, we seem to be showing the world that it takes large amounts of money to a targeted group, agreement that anything that uplifts others is to be suspect, and voices of difference are to be mocked and discredited at all costs, to be the standard bearer. People have long been leery of difference, strangers, and anything that questions the status quo, but the only real change comes from these things. It was true in the 1700’s and it is still true today. If the white founding fathers of this young country hadn’t been adventurous strangers who questioned the rule of the day, there would be no U.S.A. As a woman of color I have been looking into the face of discrimination and fear of change for all my life, yet most of that time it was well hidden behind seemingly courteous people who would never dream that they were in anyway oppressors of others. We have all been biased towards people and places for a myriad of reasons, yet today we are divided in ways I can’t recall since the Black Civil Rights Era or even the contentious American Civil War. People of color are often told to forget their roots, change their dress, language, mannerisms, all in an effort to be excepted in this country. Everyone else must acclimate but white Americans have the privilege of keeping your ancestral roots, language, and customs intact. You are even held in awe when you do so and devote festivals and days to this very thing. What we are telling these people of color now is none of that matters. No matter what you do, sacrifice, or learn to be in this country, we (white America) will not accept you. I have white friends who are sickened by this idea and its blatant visualization in America today. They have always been sickened by this and were often vocal about abuses of power and injustice. Yet many others are just awaking to a world that puts their own in jeopardy which they find unacceptable. These would also be the places here injustice that doesn’t personally touch them is viewed as suspect and not their problem. (This is another post itself) But, my friends of color are not surprised at all. We have been fighting this same fight to be seen on equal footing for hundreds of years and no matter how many apologies, reparations, or laws passed, what never changes is the learned perception of them versus us on the color spectrum. Unless we teach and show equality along with the systematic dismantling of the very system set up to run this country in a way that applauds and rewards a person’s white(ness) and connections, there will always be oppression, hate, and fear running rampant. Am I happy that many people seem to have awaken from a coma to question the power and reach of the 45th President? Sure I am, more people armed with knowledge usually leads to productive change for all. Am I sometimes disillusioned that it took something so drastic to make others take notice? Yes. Do I pray that these times bring a lasting change for the better? Constantly. I also work locally, speak in my small platform, educate whenever I can and seek knowldege so that I am doing my part to be an agent of change, not just a voice crying in the night about injustice that I won’t lift a finger to help eradicate. Why don’t you join me?