American Resilience

It hurts. 

I get it. Like many of you, I too, have been pretty despondent the last 72 hours. From the media's terrible Afghanistan withdrawal coverage to Hurricane Ida's devastation through the southern and easter part of the country to Texas and the Supreme Court essentially overturning Roe v. Wade in red states, this last week has been a helluva year. We always knew that the Biden-Administration would have to defuse countless ticking time bombs left by TFG, but we didn't know exactly how we'd feel when these bombs would go off. Truth be told, these bombs have been slowly simmering for a half-century from Nixon on down. What we're seeing is the culmination of Nixon's southern strategy, Reagan's war on the poor, Bush I and II's failed Middle Eastern foreign policy, and Trumpism. White supremacy is a helluva drug and one that will not go down without a fight.

And it's a fight that will not be won overnight, no matter how badly we want it to be. For every groundbreaking democratic initiative that keeps 3 million children out of poverty, there exists a counter initiative that sets back reproductive rights decades for millions of women in Texas. That counterbalance is no accident. Republicans long for their idyllic 1950s version of America where those uppity people of color are separated and know their place, where women are barefoot and pregnant, where the gays are nowhere to be found, and where public schools teach Christian American values each and every day. It is that version of the country that appeals to them because in that version there are no women or people of color to challenge the racial and gender-based hierarchy that is the overwhelming majority of today's Republican Party. Republicans would like nothing better than to return to a world where White males dominate the scene politically and where everybody else becomes a permanent second-class citizen. 

That's what we're fighting. These battles are not new, they are simply the latest irritation of our nation's history. Why else would high COVID-19 infection rates and states of the Confederacy be so closely aligned? Because to this day, we still have an ideological battle about what our country is and what our country should be. But like the Civil War, this battle is not as nearly and neatly defined as we imagine it to be. Taking us back 160 years, it has to be noted that there was opposition even from the states that seceded. Rogue units were formed and made their way north. Southern slaves snuck their way into Union uniforms. Southern women aided and abetted the north through a network of information. While states technically "seceded" there was never full 100% participation in the insurrection. There were always those willing to fight, even when the most powerful individuals in their state made it a crime to do so. 

Flash forward 160 years. Texas, the very same state that was the last one to officially recognize the end of slavery, is now moving ahead to restrict women's health and to bring the state back to the 1960s. But like the Civil War, there exists a network of people willing to stand up to the White men in power. Yes, Texas is hurting. But in essentially banning abortions, Texas Republicans have lit a fire under Democrats, both in Texas and throughout the country. Republicans are like the dog who finally caught its tail. They've got it, sure, but now they have no idea what to do with it. Already, Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have said the state will follow Texas' lead in crafting its own restrictive fetal heart bill. DeSantis, whose approval rating is down 14 points over the last 2 months, is banking on his base showing up to reelect him in 2022. But since they finally caught the tail that is the practical end of Roe v. Wade, what would motivate them to come out and vote en masse without TFG on the ticket? 

I wish things were different. I wish we didn't have to re-fight the battles that folks have been engaged with over the past half-century. But this is reality. This is what fighting fascism looks like in the 21st century. For all of us who have wondered how and why Hitler rose to power, this is it. A slow, steady rise chipping away at democratic institutions. Corruption of the courts. Attempting to create doubt in the way in which elections are conducted and tabulated. Republicans are 30% of the people in this country and know it. So they will lie, cheat, and steal their way to maintain what little power they still possess. We barely did enough to hold them off in 2020. But now, feeling the fruits of their labor, they feel emboldened. Their naked power grabs are visible for the entire world to see. The idea of American fascism is no longer theoretical. It is here, staring us in the face in Texas, in Florida, and in each and every Republican legislature throughout the country. 

So we fight. We pick ourselves up and we fight. We pressure our Congressmen and women to codify protections for women. We seek out abortion service providers in Texas and donate to keep them in business. We continue to spam the Texas whistleblower website, an activity led by our youngest voting generation. We share our stories with those that have never known about the world pre-Roe. And, most importantly, we breathe. We breathe and take time for ourselves. We practice self-care. We spend time with our families and loved ones. The last thing we need is to burn ourselves out prior to 2022. But after a brief reprieve, we know we cannot wait 4 months to get going. The time to get started is now: voter registration, phone banking, text banking, post carding. Start by sending texts for Gavin Newsom. Follow-up by helping to keep Virginia's Democratic trifecta in November. Support civil rights groups like the ACLU, Human Rights Campaign, and Marc Elias' Democracy Docket as they continue to fight for our most vulnerable. Channel that righteous anger into action. Because when you become completely despondent, that's when you stop caring. 

And getting you to stop caring is their ultimate goal.