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bookmark_borderYet another instance of election hypocrisy

Posted on by Marissa
 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Defiant L’s (@defiant.ls)

In this post, Dean Obeidallah demonstrates hypocrisy, as well as intolerance and authoritarianism. 

There is no such thing as an “election denier.” It’s called a person who believes that the election was illegitimate.

There is no such thing as a “democracy denier.” It’s called a person who doesn’t believe that democracy is the best form of government (which it isn’t, by the way.)

Obeidallah needs to stop presuming the truth of what he is trying to prove, because as I explained in a previous post, doing so is the very essence of intolerance and authoritarianism.

Enough already.

bookmark_borderAnother instance of election hypocrisy

Posted on by Marissa

 

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A post shared by Defiant L’s (@defiant.ls)

Contrary to what George Takei claims in the above post, there is no such thing as an “election denier.”

It’s called a person who believes that the election was illegitimate.

Takei needs to stop presuming the truth of what he is trying to prove, because as I explained in a previous post, presuming the truth of what one is trying to prove is the very essence of intolerance and authoritarianism.

Repeatedly seeing posts like this – and by “this,” I mean Takei’s posts, as opposed to the post by Defiant Ls pointing out his hypocrisy – is exasperating and mentally exhausting.

bookmark_borderThe statues weren’t hurting anyone, and neither was I

Posted on by Marissa

Everyone else wore jeans and t-shirts. I wore jumpers, plaid skirts, cardigans, Mary Janes.

Everyone else got their hair highlighted and wore makeup. I wore hair ribbons and pigtails.

Everyone else spoke in the latest slang in order to sound “cool.” I used big words and spoke formally.

Everyone else IM’d with their friends after school. I went online to read about historical figures. I made drawings and paper dolls of them.

Everyone played the same computer games, listened to the same music, watched the same TV shows and movies. Everyone except for me.

I collected dolls, toy soldiers, Beanie Babies, and model horses. Everyone called me babyish and weird.

I picked my nose, and the other kids whispered to each other about how gross I was. I picked at my face and scalp instead, but the other kids still whispered to each other about me, and how weird I was. So instead I went through my hair and took out the strands that had become detached, tidying and cleaning up my hair, but the other kids commented on how gross and weird that was as well. So I forced myself to sit, uncomfortable and bored out of my mind, with nothing to occupy my hands.

I was not hurting anyone. I was not hurting anyone by dressing the way that looked good to me, moving and organizing my body in the way that felt good to me, spending my time and energy pursuing the things that I was interested in. I was not hurting anyone by existing in the world as my authentic self, in a way that was different from other people.

The statues are the same as me. They dressed differently from people today, looked differently, spoke differently, thought differently.

Therefore, the statues weren’t hurting anyone either.

The statues symbolized people like me, people who are different. The statues symbolized the idea that people like me have a right to be included in society. When people tore down the statues, that is what they attacked.

Seeing those statues standing, in public parks and city squares, told me that I had the right to exist, even though I am different from others. Because those statues were different from other people, and they had the right to exist.

When people tore down the statues, they took that away from me.

When mayors and city councils ordered the statues removed, they were literally redesigning public spaces in order to communicate that people like me do not have the right to exist there, in order to ensure that people like me would feel excluded.

This is not being inclusive, or ensuring that everyone feels welcome. It is the exact opposite.

When people tore down the statues, they did so because they believe that a person who dresses differently, looks differently, moves differently, speaks differently, and thinks differently should not be allowed to exist.

When people tore down the statues, they did so because they believe, through some perverse logic that is incomprehensible to me, that their right to be surrounded entirely and exclusively by people who dress like them, look like them, move like them, speak like them, and think like them, outweighs my right to exist.

This is not diversity. It is the exact opposite.

This is why Confederate statues and Christopher Columbus statues are so important.

This is why the issue of statues is personal to me.

This is why I will never forget what people did to the statues, why I will never move on, why I will never stop writing and posting about the statues, why I will never focus on other, more important issues.

Because there are no issues more important than this.

I wasn’t hurting anyone by existing, and neither were the statues.

bookmark_borderWhy Columbus did actually discover the Americas

Posted on by Marissa

This Instagram post from Save Columbus Day makes a great argument for why it is actually correct to say that Columbus discovered the Americas. 

As the post points out, the dictionary definition of “discover” is:

“To notice or learn, especially by making an effort.”

or

“To be the first, or the first of one’s group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe.”

It’s indisputable that Columbus made an effort in finding the new continent. Starting when he was a child, he was so interested in the sea and traveling, that he took the initiative to teach himself sailing skills, geography, history, and different languages. He was so confident and impassioned about trying to find a westward route to Asia, that he spent years trying to persuade the rulers of various kingdoms to finance his idea. And of course, once he finally gained backing from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, the voyage itself required great effort from Columbus and his crew. They sailed in wooden boats, into literally unknown territory, far from home, with no comforts, little to eat or drink, and at the mercy of the dangerous seas. Columbus’s voyage absolutely fits the first definition of the word “discover.”

Additionally, Columbus was indisputably the first of his group or kind to learn of the new continent. The anti-Columbus bullies enjoy making the tired, hackneyed argument that Columbus did not discover the Americas because there were already people living there. Of course, it is true that people were living on the continent when Columbus arrived, so Columbus was not the very first person ever to discover the Americas. He was, however, the first European person to do so, which means that Columbus’s voyage fits the second definition of the word “discover” as well. 

The fact that the anti-Columbus bullies completely ignore this part of the definition – the fact that being the first of one’s group or kind counts as discovering as well – demonstrates their intolerance and racism. The anti-Columbus bullies see things only from the indigenous perspective. Other perspectives and viewpoints don’t matter to them. In their eyes, because Columbus was European, his perspective and his viewpoints don’t matter, and his accomplishments don’t matter. In their eyes, because Columbus is from a different group or kind than themselves, he ought to be attacked, condemned, and shamed, and his accomplishments dismissed and ridiculed. This is why I use the word “bullies.” Anti-Columbus activists are operating from a place of intolerance for any perspectives, viewpoints, and cultures other than their own. In their eyes, the only people who matter are themselves. 

Christopher Columbus was the first European person – the first of his group or kind – to discover the Americas. And that accomplishment matters. 

bookmark_borderAnother untitled poem

Posted on by Marissa

Trucks rumble up and down the hill,
Carting away debris.
The air is still and cold.
Fog lingers,
Clinging to the trees
And hovering above the water.
The hammering of construction workers
Can be heard far in the distance.
Sunlight cuts through the fog,
Gradually warming me.
Geese call out,
Honks echoing through the still air.
Lazily, they bob along,
Spreading out across the pond’s surface.

December 2023

bookmark_borderUntitled poem

Posted on by Marissa

A bleak day;
Clouds mingle with sunlight
As they drift lazily across the sky.
The grass is dry and brown,
Punctuated by a few remaining patches of snow;
The pond’s surface still half frozen.
Ducks and geese call to each other
As they paddle in the water
And waddle across the ice.

2/1/2024

bookmark_borderHow I feel about Black History Month

Posted on by Marissa

I recently came across a social media post about Black History Month, which said: “Celebrating Black history does not take away from those of other backgrounds.”

While I technically agree with this statement, the problem is that removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds does take away from those of other backgrounds. And unfortunately, removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds is exactly what has been happening en masse in our country since 2020. Plus, it tends to be the people who are most adamant about celebrating Black History Month who are also the most strongly in favor of removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds.

Personally, Black History Month isn’t exactly my favorite thing. I am more interested in ancient and medieval history, because people in those long-ago time periods were so different from people today, as well as the history of people and groups who are overlooked, misunderstood, and looked down upon today. Black history is so emphasized, so prominent, so widely celebrated, and so popular in today’s society that due to my contrarian nature, it isn’t super interesting to me. 

With that being said, I don’t have anything against Black History Month, per se. I would have no problem with Black History Month being celebrated if Confederate Heritage Month, Confederate Memorial Day, Lee-Jackson Day, Italian Heritage Month, and Columbus Day were celebrated equally prominently, and if all of the Confederate statues and Columbus statues that have ever existed, continued to exist unharmed and unthreatened. But unfortunately, this is far from the case.

It’s not fair to celebrate the history and heritage one group, while the history and heritage of other groups are being deliberately erased, obliterated, and destroyed. It’s not fair to honor and venerate one group, while other groups are attacked as immoral and shameful merely because they are different.

So while I don’t have a problem with Black History Month itself, I have a problem with the inconsistency of celebrating and honoring some groups, while attacking and destroying others. It is unfair to celebrate Black History Month unless Italian history, European history in general, and Confederate history, to give just a few examples, are celebrated just as widely and prominently. That is why I will not be celebrating Black History Month.