Thread by @EdOverbeek

The morning after the 2016 election, I remember thinking the result was only possible in a country that tolerated the idea of second class citizens. And that had included me.

I didn't like the idea of second class citizens, but I'd put up with it. I hadn't fought for my cousins, my friends, my neighbors. By sitting on the sidelines, I had helped put us where we suddenly found ourselves. I was complicit in his win*. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

My children and everyone else were about to to pay a huge price for it. And the people I'd let down before were going to pay everything I paid, and more. I don't just mean this generally. I mean people close to me.

It's been almost three years since that day. I'm still too much on the sidelines. I'm still benefiting more from the concept of second class citizens than I'm working to end it. I'm... chipping away at that debt. I'm not going to sugarcoat things.

I've been wanting to write this for three years. If I waited till I knew exactly what I wanted to say about it, I'd be waiting forever. But there are a few things I know I want to say.

The first is, we won't defeat Trump and Trumpism as long as long as we tolerate America treating anyone like a second class citizen. It's just not compatible with democracy. It never was. Our choice is real equality or authoritarianism.

For most of my life, America was somewhere between real democracy and full-blown authoritarianism. Apartheid lite. Democracy for me but not for everyone around me.

Not that apartheid lite was acceptable, but it isn't even sustainable anymore. Look at Fox. They want more.

The other thing I want to say is this. Cheering from the sidelines is worse than useless. We need to stop patting ourselves on the back while we let the authoritarians win.

Forty years ago, Angela Davis said “In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” Forty years ago. That should've been more than enough time for it to sink in.

The battle to end second class citizen status needs privileged people to get off the sidelines. It needs our numbers. And we have a role to play that other people can't.

If you're a privileged person, your daily life is probably surrounded by other privileged people. We're living at the front lines of the battle. And most of us have sat down and made ourselves comfortable.

Privileged people also have more influence over the system we (say we) want to change. People who need to hear about inequality will listen more to people like them. And maybe your privilege helped put you in a position of power. You're positioned to help in ways others can't.

One thing that helped me understand this country better was when I finally did the math and realized "women and minorities" is a majority. America's still run by and for the remaining minority.
dailykos.com/stories/2017/8…

The phrase "minority rule" came with enough connotations for me to see America for what it really is. It pierced through my ignorance.

America treats *the majority* of its citizens like second class citizens. And a lot of us have been playing along because we benefit in *some* of the ways. But it's past time to give up on minority rule completely.