Civil Rights for every person is not too much to ask--- starting right here, right now

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. --Civil Rights--Day. (And I'm still annoyed that NH was the very last state to officially recognize the holiday.) Given the national and global furor over rights and who gets 'em, it seems like we should be looking deeply into the lives and works of those who insist/ed that basic human rights should not be something apportioned out, like some sort of charitable hand-out, with restrictions and qualifications attached. 

Arbitrary variations in human skin tone, biology, gender, faith-- these are not, and should not, be factors in whether someone is given fundamental respect and understanding. To use religion as a basis for exclusionary ideologies is to weaponize one's faith, and that subverts the entire reason for faith-based living practices. It is not some dangerous practice done by extremists in foreign countries; believe me, it happens in my own little town, and that scares me.

This is not an "over there" or "used to be" situation, clearly. We are grappling with it every single day, and it's deeply rooted in our society. Every generation in the United (!) States has had its targeted group: Black folks, Brown folks, Italians, Irish, Haitians, Japanese, Chinese...women, nonbinary folks, multiethnic folks, queer folks... 

What gives anyone the right to ascertain that any other human being is worth less than themselves? 

EVER?

To ignore this issue is to allow for its perpetration. Erasing it or twisting it to make is less than a real crisis is not "protecting" anyone. Stop putting a band-aid on a machete slash, eh? 

To celebrate just one person of color for their accomplishments is tokenism. 

To celebrate a woman for entering a career by calling her a "lady firefighter" (for example) is reductive.

To appreciate the artistry of an actor who happens to be (fill in the blank) but yet vote for legislation that limits their existence is hypocritical. 

When I hear a politician say, "when I was growing up, I had a Black friend..." it makes me cringe. Does that somehow absolve them of their racism? No. Using a past or present friendship to make a point is using someone to further one's own agenda--proving the "rule" by the exception.

There are people other than I who have said it better. 

I hope you have a good day. Be kind. Be good humans.

C

 “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”

― James Baldwin

“...a woman should have every honorable motive to exertion which is enjoyed by man, to the full extent of her capacities and endowments. The case is too plain for argument. Nature has given woman the same powers, and subjected her to the same earth, breathes the same air, subsists on the same food, physical, moral, mental and spiritual. She has, therefore, an equal right with man, in all efforts to obtain and maintain a perfect existence.”
― Frederick Douglass

The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them.

How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.”
― Salman Rushdie, Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002

“It is unusual...for a revolution to call for fewer rights for people, not more.”
― Cassandra Clare, Lord of Shadows