A Long Time Coming

We aren't here by accident

When you start pulling at the fabric of our current situation, some of it goes a long way back, even to people insisting the New Deal was wrong for America and they wouldn’t stop until they ended the social safety net (and they have been upset by every step forward it has taken). There were southern whites deeply invested in Jim Crow who did not want a world where equal opportunity existed for all, because they didn’t believe there was equality in the first place. Years ago, I read an article about an heir apparent to the white supremacist cause who left it. I went looking for better information to refresh my memory, because I couldn’t remember when it was in history I heard about him. On August 21, 2013, the SPLC published a letter he wrote to them after being “outed” for his history on his campus. It is worth a read. It is followed by an interview with another young person also leaving white supremacy.

What struck me most about the story of Derek Black at the time (note, this is now their dead name, and they are Adrianne Black) was that he was instrumental in demonstrating that many white nationalist talking points could be used as campaign issues for the GOP in local Florida elections and win election that way. He literally was someone who formulated and paved the way for MAGA and the current white genocide talking points used for the current anti-immigration policies we see in force today. He was sent to college to be better prepared to extend the reach of Stormfront, but ended up meeting Jews and immigrants and learning just how much misinformation colored his worldview (it is one of the reasons the current Right wants to control universities - they are convinced students are “indoctrinated,” when what really happens is that, by being exposed to ideas and people they didn’t know, they realize that they had preconceived notions that were inaccurate, and end up more open-minded).

That Adrianne had such a journey is informative, too, to my mission: to build a group of people willing to advocate for all of us. We need to realize people have been conditioned to be part of MAGA, and that we need to work to reach them with mercy and grace. Many of them have been convinced by religious leaders that they are on the side of righteousness. In the congregation of a major denomination 20 years ago I heard sermons advocating for the end of the social safety net and to move the US to Old Testament Law. TWENTY YEARS AGO. If you are home-schooled and raised in this echo chamber, you have very little real-world knowledge to base your decisions on.

The MAGA I have managed to talk to often feel isolated. They are convinced that the “left” hates them - Trump has used the “deplorables” thing as a two-edged sword: they can only have MAGA because they have been rejected by the world. It is how a cult leader keeps control. If we live up to that - treating them as horrible without trying to find common ground (we all love our kids, we all hope they will have successful futures, etc.), we keep them where they are. Not all will be reachable. But if no one tries, none of them will be reached. I am not saying all of us have to - but if you’re feeling brave, and have a bit of a friendship with someone who seems MAGA or adjacent, let them get to know you better.

So again, I encourage you - our allies will come from a great many beliefs and places. We need MAGA defectors and Never Trump GOP. We need a coalition that stands up against money in politics, against politics as usual, and stands for a government that serves the majority. Keep open hearts and minds. I am going to keep advocating for a better world for my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, and do my best to encourage you to keep going while we get through this.

I know we can do it if we stick together.

More info about Adrianne Black as Derek:

NPR

America Magazine