Read on Twitter
So I wrote a short reply to one of those "wasn't it good when we all had RESPECT for..." memes and the person who posted the meme deleted my reply from their FB post.
And so I wrote a longer essay. Here goes.
And so I wrote a longer essay. Here goes.
I've seen various memes and posts circulate that talk about the "good ol' days" and have lists of experiences from the 50s, 60s, and 70s in what the authors seem to propose were the days when we "treated one another with respect."
Let's take a short moment to think about what life was like in the US in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. (For my friends born later, I know that your experience of the 80s, 90s, and 00s could be added to some of our conversations.)
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, women still couldn't do a long list of things without the express approval of their husband. Job discrimination, wage discrimination, access in schools were limited and barred.
There are still problems for women in wage equality or healthcare experiences, but we've made some steps forward. We're not done fighting for women's rights.
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, Blacks were still being beaten, lynched, and kept out of jobs, schools, and neighborhoods. Mobs attacked children trying to go to school. Gangs of white supremacists terrorized people, families, and neighborhoods.
We have made some steps forward and in the past four years it's been obvious how many steps backward are still in place. I'm glad we made some steps forward, but now is not the time to relax and think we're done fighting.
We're not done fighting for civil rights. We're not done protecting Black lives from being taken on our streets.
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transexuals were still being beaten, killed, and jailed. It took riots and parades and protests to make changes. And yet still LGBTQ+ rights are being challenged.
I am proud that we have made same-sex marriages legal. But we still have more protections to put in place, and we're not done fighting for the right for adults to love consensually.
Don't forget that the US put Japanese-Americans in internment camps. The immigrants at our borders have still not been reunited with their children, they are still in "internment camps," they are still lacking humane access to medical attention.
We're still not done fighting for the rights of immigrants living in our nation.
Don't forget that our indigenous and native nations were not granted citizenship until 1924 nor the right to vote until 1965 nor granted the Indian Civil Rights Act until 1968.
We still haven't solved issues with land rights nor addressed the high rates of native women disappearing and being killed. This is a huge shame on the US and we're not done fighting for the indigenous people of this land.
Religion in the US is supposed to be protected for the individual and kept out of our legislation. This is *not* a single religion country and we're still dealing with the ramifications of legislators trying to insist that they can force their personal religion on all the masses.
This is described ideologically in our Constitution, and yet we're still not done separating how the individual is protected but public discrimination (in business, in healthcare, in institutions) is prohibited. We're not done fighting for this.
And when it comes down to "respect for the nation, the flag, the leadership roles in this country," let's please remember that counting all the votes is respectful.
Flying alternate flag types that change the colors of the US flag, that promote just one person or party, or promote undemocratic ideals is NOT respectful.
Our leaders are asked to hold up the Constitution and the rule of law over domestic threats, over foreign threats, over party, over individual personalities, over nepotism, over financial gain from political power.
Respect comes when those in service also hold the job with respect.
We're not done fighting for a better nation. Because we're not done protecting even the least among us. It's not just the people in power who deserve to sleep well at night.
Even the sick, the poor, the beaten, the homeless, the children at the borders, and the frightened deserve to be protected and cared for.
