“No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.” Said Mitt Romney to thunderous applause. At that moment I was reminded of another fine line. This one spoken by Senator Amadala in the Star Wars series. “So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.”
We have struggled with the racist history of America for a very long time. Yet now, in a world where we have a racially mixed president, we are supposed to believe that racism is dead, and worse, we are expected to accept that election as proof of the end of racial divisiveness to the extent that any time you mention race you are immediately accused of ‘pulling the race card‘. In other words, we are being made to feel bad about bringing attention to racism, that when we notice it the notice is our own bigotry as minorities bubbling to the surface, or worse a ploy by the socialist Democratic party to draw black people to the polls.
Racism will not vanish until we discover another other to focus our unity upon. The structural functionalist in me believes that the other is necessary. Unless we have an outside group to rally against we will not rally together. This is a fact of human nature. We form community based on shared interests. As those interests become broader, we maintain community based on fear.
Right now the fear factor being used is this idea of racial backlash. We have a shrinking majority that is losing power. That group is both aging and splintering within its own ranks. Now they are saying that we can’t mention it when we feel abused less we become the bad guy. This prescriptive treatment is being shopped to women as well as they are told exactly what to do and say about their bodies. In fact, a political official was censured for saying the word vagina on the floor.
Where do we go from here? When you are told not to react you must react. You must shout and fight and flaunt your individuality less you be silenced for good.