In my last post I stated that I am uninterested in being connecting to anyone who is still supporting Trump and MAGA and justifying the insurrection that happened at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. As a part of my self-care, I will not engage with those who want to police our trauma by calling for immediate, toxic unity and forgiveness without accountability. Another part of my self-care includes writing to release the dozens of thoughts that have been swirling through my head!
I have no patience for the people who act like the division in this country is new and play the “this isn’t who we are” chorus! The single or double issue Christian voters annoy me even more. THIS IS AMERICA and this is exactly who we have always been!!
Let’s take a stroll down US memory lane…
- The Constitution and the Bible were used to enslave generations of kidnapped Africans. And slavery in the US was more brutal than anything experienced around the world.
- The church house on Sunday mornings was and is still one of the most segregated spaces in America.
- My grandparents were unable to sit at lunch counters and had to enter through back doors in 1945. That was the law.
- Trump has tried countless times to disenfranchise voters who didn’t even have the right to vote until 1965.
- Not too long ago in America it was against the law to marry someone of another race and legal for a man to beat his wife and kids.
- Contrary to popular opinion, child sexual abuse and sex trafficking are NOT new. There are 70 year-olds who finally have the courage to disclose the abuse they experienced at the hands of relatives, pastors, priests, neighbors, teachers, Scout leaders, and doctors.
- When immigrants were relegated to being housekeepers, nannies and landscapers and their enslavement was hidden by the wealthy, immigration was not this hot button issue. I love it that now an educated Latina has a seat on the Supreme Court, don’t you?
- Puerto Ricans are US citizens who speak Spanish. Did I mention land stolen from Indigenoous people yet?
- Factory workers, farm workers, and domestic workers have been abused, misused, and poisoned on the job by their rich corporate employers for decades.
- Did you forget that you and your Mom were vaccinated? Check her left arm.
- Separation of church and state. The First Amendment. Is Twitter banning Trump just as legal as the baker refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple and the County Clerk refusing to issue marriage licenses for gay couples?
- Howard University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morgan State University – great institutions of higher learning founded why? #HBCU
- Crack Babies, heroin addicts and the opioid crisis! Oh, the difference in responses…
- 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.
- Emmit Till, Harietta Lacks, Rodney King, Treyvon Martin, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor. #BlackLivesMatter
- Sundown towns still exist!
- NONE of what we see today is a result of gay rights or pro-choice. The crisis that is America is not a result of the prevalence of divorce or single women raising children. Fornication and adultery were just as prevalent in the church when Leave It To Beaver was on the air as it was when you were watching Greenleaf.
- No one wants to admit that church hurt and spiritual abuse are a huge part of the reason people are leaving the church.
- Trump rose to political power after accusing Barack Obama of being a Muslim born in Kenya. He was head birther! How dare a Black man rise to the highest position in the world?
- Did Trump’s locker room talk happen before he met Jesus? I don’t think that behavior is representative of conservative Christian values.
- The same Christians who give politicians the pulpit at election time want us to keep politics out of the church at every other time of the year.
- If Black pastors kept politics out of the church during the civil rights movement, you and I would still be sitting at the back of the bus.
- Is this a good time to mention that white collar criminals usually commit crimes that impact more people but receive less jail time?
- The 45th president who resides at 1600 Black Lives Matter Plaza is applauded for doing things that would cause first graders to lose their recess. Rudeness, bullying, and verbal attacks are not signs of strength – they show his weakness to all who aren’t blinded by the facade.
- Separate was never equal.
- Doug Williams, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson – not so long ago Black athletes weren’t allowed to play in the NBA, NFL, or NBA.
- From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, to Colin Kapernick, there has never been an acceptable way for Black people to protest oppression and brutality.
- The government has not stopped millions of kids from being abused and battered everyday. Child abuse prevention laws are not the reason that children today are out of control. Give up the idea that parents don’t beat their kids anymore and CPS removes every child who is physically disciplined or abused. #fakenews
- Trumpsters have pledged blind allegiance to a man, not to our democracy.
- US Capitol police showed great restraint under siege. I guess Blue Lives Matter is over!
- My humanity is nonnegotiable!
LET’S BE CLEAR: Racism, classism, sexism, and ableism ARE as American as apple pie and baseball!
Nicki Sanders, MSW, CEO, is a Career and Empowerment Strategist who helps high-performing women of color in management go from overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated to energized, well paid, and appreciated. Through Nicki Sanders Leadership Consulting, she also helps businesses recruit, hire, train, and retain great employees. Nicki has an extensive background in developing and managing successful programs and leading high-functioning multi-disciplinary teams. She is an accomplished professor, coach, trainer, and group facilitator who has combined her gift for authentic relationships, Master of Social Work degree, and over 20 years of diverse work experience to create a life she loves. Nicki is a lover of cupcakes, travel, and 80’s hip hop and R&B music.
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