Over the past few years, many of my friends, even those (and often especially) those who considered themselves “woke,” cautioned me not to be so hard on their Trump supporting friends and family insisting that they aren’t really racist or worthy of contempt, but just misguided or ignorant and, aside from their Trump-humping, are “really sweet people.”
I reminded them that good people don’t join forces with evil, that enabling a hateful white supremacist and being good people are incompatible traits, only to be met with admonitions to be more open-minded and patient with them. They just couldn’t seem to understand or respect that racism is or should be a deal-breaker and a desire for unity never justifies tolerating intolerance.
But in the past few days, after watching those “good people” turn into a vicious, bloodthirsty lynch mob, many of those folks have changed their tunes.
I appreciate and share my friends’ pain and anger. But I also urge them to consider why supporting a president who provokes a riot is a bridge too far, but supporting a president who foments racism and hate isn’t?
And I ask them now, do you finally understand what Black and Brown people have been trying to tell you? Do you finally feel – or at least empathize with – the pain we’ve been feeling?
Can and will you, in the future, take us more seriously and stand with us when we say, ‘NO! I will NOT make nice with these people!” even if joining us in calling these people out might make your next neighborhood get-together, family dinner, or Facebook exchange of cute baby and animal pictures uncomfortable for you?
Because if you do, that means you are really waking up and are a true ally. But if you’re willing to draw the line at riots but not at racism, you might need to reconsider whether you’re really the kind of person you think you are.