“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” ~ Thurgood Marshall.
Nursing was my chosen profession, I chose it at a very young age. I had a ‘dress-up’ costume with a cape, an apron and a cap. That was not my only dress-up outfit. I have a Christmas day photo of me in a Cowgirl’s outfit, and I vaguely remember having some pink sparkly high-heel shoes also. But whenever I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had no hesitation in answering. My dolls were my patients, and I practiced bandaging on anyone who would let me. I pretty much thought nursing was all about bandaging, probably based on an old first-aid book my mother had.
When I think about it now, I wonder if I was aware of other possible choices. It was still a time when certain professions were predominantly male domains, and I don’t think I had any burning desire to challenge any of them. I certainly didn’t think of writing as any kind of a career, not one that would offer any stability or steady income, and didn’t think of myself as talented in that way. It is an interesting (though perhaps pointless) exercise, to wonder how life would have been if we had made different choices along the way, whether of life partner, or career, or country to live in. But that speculation takes for granted that we had the options to choose at all! And I was fortunate that through my parents’ decision to move from the UK to Jamaica I was provided with several options.
I was lucky to enjoy my chosen career of nursing for thirty years (don’t get me wrong, healthcare as practiced in this country makes nursing still a very challenging and frustrating career) until I changed tack and went into the profession of teaching prospective nurses, which I also enjoyed for fifteen more years. It is in retirement that I have the time to wonder whether I could have appreciated other careers as much. Since writing this blog, and publishing two books of my essays, I have thought about journalism. How might I have been suited to that profession?
One of the luxuries of living in a democracy is being able to criticize and report honestly on what goes on in government. Enshrined in the US constitution is the right to the freedom of speech, that Congress shall make no law “…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press” even when that speech is uncomfortable or embarrassing. It was journalists who exposed the corruption in Nixon’s government. All over the country, from small town country sheriffs, to state capitols, it has been journalism that has done the investigative work and brought to light wrongdoing. So it has been very scary when we hear a leader calling the press ‘the enemy of the people’, echoing dictators in authoritarian regimes.
When politicians are able to tell lies and spread misinformation unchecked, people can be fooled. This is never more true than around election time, when political ads (thanks to freedom of speech) present unconfirmed accusations about opponents in the most frightening way possible. Politicians at rallies throw out outrageous statements about other candidates in order to terrify those who may not be educated or informed into voting against them.
Sociologists (another interesting career) spend their time trying to understand people and their behavior as individuals, or societies as a whole. I was watching a journalist (acting like a sociologist) interviewing a group of Texan voters, trying to see what motivated them, how they were viewing the upcoming election. In Texas, one Senate candidate has a history of corruption (even pled guilty to securities fraud charges), while the other is an educator, a seminarian, with no criminal activity in his past. Most of the voters in the focus group (all previously voted for our current president) were willing to overlook the corruption and vote for the Republican. When asked about their concerns about Talarico, they raised one issue, their fear of what he might do to their children. One of the big lies that has managed to stick is that our children are in danger of being forced to have gender-changing surgery without parental consent. Considering I could not even have a tubal ligation (as an adult, after having four children) without my husband also signing the consent form, it is hard to imagine any surgeon anywhere performing such a procedure without parental consent.
But apart from the way that minorities (and in this case, an extremely small minority of the population) have been otherized and turned into monsters coming to take your jobs, or kill you in your beds, or impose Shariah law on everyone, it was shocking to me to realize that this group of voters (who may represent hundreds of thousands of others) could ignore corruption, illegal acts, cruelty, and their own self-interests to home in on one imaginary issue.
Which reminded me of what one very motivated African American woman had said in another interview (and I am paraphrasing here). She said: “I, as an African American woman, have never had the luxury of being a one-issue voter”. When you think about ‘white privilege’, you may think about things like being able to walk into any job interview confident that you will not first be judged by the color of your skin. Or perhaps it is when buying a house in a ‘good neighborhood’. Or being stopped by a policeman. But how many White people in the USA realize what a privilege it is, or a luxury, as the lady said, to be able to vote for a person because they agree with them on one topic only.
For African Americans and other citizens of color, none of the freedoms in the Constitution or the amendments to the constitution were automatically applied to them. They have had to fight (and continue to do so) for all of the freedoms that White citizens take for granted. And have had to watch while this administration turns the tables, erases history, dismantles programs designed to ensure that all citizens in this country are treated equally, and are taking steps to make it harder to vote.
So on this Friday morning, I exhort all citizens (if you have not already done so) to go out and vote. Whether you are Democrat or Republican, Black, Brown or White, vote with the knowledge that doing so is a privilege, a luxury, a right. But please do so knowing that Democracy itself is on the ballot, and Democracy requires an informed and engaged citizenry.
Have a wonderful weekend, Family!
One Love!
Namaste.
