Politicians do what they do because they don’t fear the consequences. They’re protected by the length of their term, the forgetfulness of people, the lack of organization by their political opponents, and the steadfast support of those who grease their way into power—and I’m not talking about voters; I’m talking about those already in power who work to favor those who are like them in power.
The people who voted to expel those gentlemen in Tennessee are more afraid of losing their rich supporters and their access to power than they are of the voters. They know far better than they let on who it is that keeps them in office—those who manipulate the political systems, the media, the businesses, and the cultural associations.
Go against white power and you’ll see just how difficult your life becomes in myriad ways, many that will not make sense to you.
But white people living in stark terror of losing their privilege will do everything they can to trip up those who seek to end that privilege as they try to promote justice, fairness, and equity. It is not just in losing access to your political office, extraordinary as that might seem. It’s losing friends and business acquaintances. It’s not being invited to social events where you mingle and meet people who can help you—if you help them. It’s not being selected for a position of leadership whether it is in politics or the church. It’s being silently ignored by people whom you never knew before & who were part of the system supporting you. It’s not getting called back by someone who has a lever for power. It’s not being respected by those who enforce the rules. It’s having your children not be selected for a team sport, not being selected as a team leader, or not being favored in access to education and scholarships, silently and without a trace of what’s going on.
Go against white supremacy and life will become that much harder. And white people around you will try to warn you, sometimes in respectful tones, sometimes in fierce anger.
So white people have to decide if they’ll go against the flow and speak out against their own, or if they’ll just go along and mutter that “it’s not fair” but avoid doing anything to make it fair.
White people like to think that their “protests” are meaningful, but then they back down and go along with it, again and again and again, not just because they lose their fire but also because they fear their loss of inclusion and privilege.
You want to terrify politicians? Take away their signs of power which are “respect” and obedience and decorum and complacency. Trip them up, make a point to oppose them at every turn, continuously point out their failures, and continuously refuse to accord them the power to silence you.
Not saying it’s easy, not at all, because it isn’t, not at all, and it will wear you down if you try to oppose these people as they gleefully strip others of their human rights in your name.
But hey, if you’re gonna do it, you need to do it all the way. Politicians depend upon compliance and obedience, and if you make it so they don’t get that—you take away the power they hold because of that compliance and obedience.
The choice isn’t a single event. It’s a commitment to opposition that most white people simply don’t know how to do consistently for the sake of others.