No Culture War, Just Common Decency

The Democratic Party continues to agonize over the results of the presidential election.

They say the party is losing the Culture Wars.

They say the party must find a way to appeal to the former president’s voters.

This reasoning ignores the fact that he won reelection because too many voters didn’t vote.

The other major reason he won is because America has a wide range of right-leaning voters.

These voters range from Christians who lack an understanding of the Jesus of the Gospels to White Supremacists, greedy billionaire oligarchs, and poor Whites who ignorantly voted against their self-interests.

These voters were aided by their minority and women allies.

There is no American culture war.

What America is experiencing is a power play by racists, misogynists, homophobes, and nativists.

It’s not a culture war.

It’s a matter of common decency versus humanity’s worst impulses.

These votes are not worth pursuing.

The Republican Party has allied itself with a horrendous cabal of voters who want to establish a mishmash government that will be fascist, theocratic, and altogether regressive.

These voters have their special interests – interests that have nothing to do with respecting the rights and liberties of non-White, non-heterosexual, female people.

These voters consider people like me as less than human.

I will not attempt to justify my existence to people who deny my humanity.

I will not kowtow to people who want to curtail my civil liberties.

I will not seek understanding with people who hate me because I’m Black.

I’m not a woman, but I will not appease the patriarchy.

I’m not a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, but I will not accept a political agenda that does not safeguard their rights.

I’m not a recent immigrant, but I am a descendant of immigrants, just like everyone in America except for Native Americans.

I’m not a hypocrite. I will never support the idea that our country is being ruined by people coming to this country seeking a better life, just like every voluntary immigrant.

This is not a matter of differing philosophies.

It is the difference between those who feel superior and those they consider inferior.

There’s no common ground to be reached between supporters of the former president and people like me.

I will not waste my time explaining to them that I am an American.

Some of my ancestors came here voluntarily, but some were brought here in chains.

Over four hundred years later, some Whites still refuse to accept me as human and as an equal.

Four hundred years should have been long enough for reasonable people to recognize my humanity.

Obviously, four hundred years wasn’t long enough.

America is the land of the free, and home of the brave in theory.

In practice, not so much.

Instead of trying to appeal to these people, the Democrats would find their time better used appealing to those voters the Republicans considers as “others.”

The truly disenfranchised deserve as much of a political voice as those who claim to be oppressed but who are actually the oppressors.