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Jan. 29th, 2017 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariAround 2 o'clock, I began to get dressed to run out and grab some lunch. I tend to dress down when I'm just running out, so I slapped on some jeans and a t-shirt and then I stopped.
I couldn't wear this shirt. It felt wrong.
Despite my talk about the Republic of Texas, and the whole Texas is a country thing...I'm actually a fairly patriotic American. My mother instilled a sense of civics in me, and my father, a sense of fair play. I like to think you see this during elections, with my downright BEGGING people to go out and vote. Or to take charge in your local and not-so-local politics.
I've driven around the country, met amazing people from all walks of life. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Rio Grande to the 49th Parallel. I've talked with down home rural Texans, and professors in the big cities. I believed in the good naturedness of Americans and America.
Last year, I began to worry. The big autumn trip from Seattle to Texas, going through the Rockies felt a little...dangerous. Transgender folks were right in the crosshairs of hate, and a transwoman, driving along, off the freeways into rural America, felt like a bad idea. I did it anyways, and only turned back because the car broke down.
Since then, I've watched the worst of America rise up and take control of America, hauled there on the shoulders of those same people I believed were good natured folks. Then I've watched them double-down on the hate, pulling back masks and curtains and deep seated hatreds they finally felt were allowable. To be fair, it wasn't all of them. But it was a whole lot of them.
I've lost my faith in America and Americans. While I'm sure it can be rebuilt, it will take a long while. And while I'll do my part to try and restore the America I remember, it may be a long time until I wear this T-Shirt again....
I couldn't wear this shirt. It felt wrong.
Despite my talk about the Republic of Texas, and the whole Texas is a country thing...I'm actually a fairly patriotic American. My mother instilled a sense of civics in me, and my father, a sense of fair play. I like to think you see this during elections, with my downright BEGGING people to go out and vote. Or to take charge in your local and not-so-local politics.
I've driven around the country, met amazing people from all walks of life. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Rio Grande to the 49th Parallel. I've talked with down home rural Texans, and professors in the big cities. I believed in the good naturedness of Americans and America.
Last year, I began to worry. The big autumn trip from Seattle to Texas, going through the Rockies felt a little...dangerous. Transgender folks were right in the crosshairs of hate, and a transwoman, driving along, off the freeways into rural America, felt like a bad idea. I did it anyways, and only turned back because the car broke down.
Since then, I've watched the worst of America rise up and take control of America, hauled there on the shoulders of those same people I believed were good natured folks. Then I've watched them double-down on the hate, pulling back masks and curtains and deep seated hatreds they finally felt were allowable. To be fair, it wasn't all of them. But it was a whole lot of them.
I've lost my faith in America and Americans. While I'm sure it can be rebuilt, it will take a long while. And while I'll do my part to try and restore the America I remember, it may be a long time until I wear this T-Shirt again....
