What Come’s Next? Hopefully Accountability, and That Starts With Ourselves. (READ UNTIL THE END)
It’s official, Donald Trump will not serve a second term as President of the United States.
For those of us who have fought against his administration, this is the moment we were fighting to achieve.
What does this mean for the country? What does this mean for people, like myself, that desire to be activists and allies in the fight for social justice?
What does this mean for the country?
To answer the first question, our country has clearly stated that a majority of citizens do not want the policies of the Trump Administration to continue. However, it is also true that millions upon millions of Americans were perfectly content to support another four years of President Trump.
This election was not, as CNN contributor Van Jones articulated on Election Night, the “moral victory” social justice activists sought in the results of the 2020 race. It did not make clear that a vast majority of Americans understand (or possibly, care) about the history of racist views and policies Trump has embodied and emboldened throughout his life before becoming President and during his Presidency.
***PAUSE***
Let’s stop here to address a common question that might be formulating by some as they read this post:
Question: Mr. Vonck, you’re a teacher. Aren’t you concerned about these comments leading some to consider you,“too political” to teach?
Answer: This is an important question that our society has often struggled with. Should teachers share their views and opinions on politics, publicly?
My direct answer is yes, but it’s more complicated then that, so I encourage you to read my previous post on this question. In that article, I have argued that it is not possible, nor beneficial, in my role as an educator to maintain a false image of “objectivity”.
Further, and most importantly when discussing Trump’s racism, there comes a time in one’s life where you need to make a decision about what you will stand for as a human being. What do you value? Will you stand up for those values when someone threatens them?
To put it bluntly, some things should not be considered political and calling out Trump’s racism, sexism, bigotry towards the LGBTQ+ community and xenophobia is one of those things.
To paraphrase a quote that Professor Stacey Lee once told our class of future teachers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “There is no grey area when someone throws sand in your face.”
So, when someone thinks I’m exaggerating or being too political by saying Trump is racist and that it is beyond disturbing that millions of Americans still voted for him twice….I’ll just ask them to read through Vox’s detailed list of examples of Trump’s racism throughout his life and Presidency. Once you are done, please let me know if you think those actions are acceptable behavior for a human being, let alone a President, to do.
So What Do We Do?
Keep. Fighting.
Donald Trump is a symptom of a much larger problem in the United States, and that is the growth of xenophobia that is emboldened by so-called news organizations that peddle stereotypes of marginalized communities and easily disproven conspiracy theories to large sections of the public on a nightly basis.
We cannot rest because Trump is out of office. We must continue to fight racism and misinformation proactively, by calling it out while also highlighting the vast beauty our diverse society possesses. It is through the cultivation of the appreciation of difference that we can resuscitate our nation’s ability to care for one another, regardless of how similar or different our life stories may be.
What Does This Mean for Activists?
Well, a great starting point would be to look in the mirror.
Are you really an activist? Do you really fight for social justice and the equality of all people?
Or do you just write nice things about equality on social media?
Straight up, we need to all ask ourselves these questions, and that is what I will model below. This is not an article meant to condescend or imply that I am the greatest activist of all time.
I can assure you, I am not, and I will prove that to you.
The only way that we can increase the amount of good we put into this world, is by reflecting on our own shortcomings as members of society. The longer we wait to do this, the longer we are withholding our support from our fellow human beings.
You can do better. I know that, because I have been trying to do better myself.
My Story
Before Trump was elected, I thought I was a very liberal, social justice advocate that fought for the rights of others. I learned a lot in college through volunteering that I did, but proceeded to stop doing those things towards the end of college and beginning of my career. Yet, I was still pretty proud of myself.
I mean, I voted for Obama twice? Clearly, I’m very woke and working hard to support my community, right?
Sarcasm aside, I really did believe in this grander view of myself, in a way. I was defensive when I had been called out in college or after college for jokes or comments that were ignorant or problematic, on a variety of topics. I was appalled that someone could ever accuse me of saying something racist or sexist. I was willing to tell them off, for how unfair they were being to me, instead of even taking a second to listen, to learn just how harmful my actions were being.
Oh, but I could call out other people’s racism or problematic behavior just fine. In fact, I felt that doing so made me an activist!
Re-Engaging and Realizations
As the 2016 Presidential Election neared, I began to observe how disenchanted I had become with activism. I knew I wasn’t actually doing my part to better society.
I knew I didn’t vote in the 2014 election. I didn’t actively support organizations that were doing real work to better the lives of all people, to fight against systemic racism and oppression. Instead, I talked a nice game on some podcasts I recorded from the safety of my own home and computer.
But. That’s. It.
So I worked to be more informed, yet still only advocated for a better world through my profile page on Facebook.
Then, Trump wins in 2016. My worldview is left in shatters.
I was scared about him winning, but I didn’t really think he would win.
I wanted to make the world a better place, but I was pretty content that a majority of people would do the right thing. I clearly didn’t think I had to work hard to do my part in creating a better world. Really, how bad can it get?
(We all know the answer to that question, now.)
I had decided to become a teacher. I had decided that I wanted to change careers and ensure I was doing good in the world….but that was still just a goal that I had yet to even begin to embark on.
I even listened to arm-chair philosophers on their famous podcasts, who were making millions criticizing everyone under the sun, but doing nothing to support real change themselves. These were my heroes, people that would rather talk about how the, “world is burning” all day rather than try to help in some way.
Post Trump’s Election
To keep this focused, please understand that Trump’s election was a turning point for me. I realized that I needed to do a lot more than I was doing, and I started volunteering at some youth organizations to support my community and learn if I really wanted to be a teacher. I learned a lot from this process, and the mistakes I made along the way. I could talk about these events themselves in more detail, but I am choosing to focus on one specific failure that I believe is most important.
I want you to see where I failed, and focus directly on an example that highlights everything I am talking about in this article.
In fact, you already have seen a photo of my failure.
The picture at the top of the screen was from a protest that I organized with a small group of activists in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2017. We had a pretty strong event, filled with speakers, political activists and representatives from Michigan, and a huge crowd.
I tried hard to not center myself at the event, but was asked to say a few words at one point. That speech went fine.
As the protest ended, I was so proud of myself, and how well everything seemed to go.
Now, how is this a failure?
Regardless of any good that came out of this event, any awareness that way raised, there were some very large flaws in my actions. These were not flaws I was immediately willing to admit….but more on that in a minute.
My Mistakes Included (But were not limited to):
I decided to create a Facebook invitation to a protest that went out to thousands of Michiganders, with the goal of defending the lives of immigrants, without talking to anyone from the immigrant community. I immediately centered myself, instead of listening to the countless activists whose life’s work was put into these issues.
- While I thought I was being inclusive by inviting as many immigrant groups as I could, I had no right, knowledge or expertise to ask for their support on this project. Why was this a better use of their time and resources?
- There were so many aspects of direct action and protests that I didn’t understand. I had never been to a protest. Why did I think I was right to plan one? To put people’s safety potentially at risk?
- And, I did put people at risk.
That is what I have been building to. There is a fantastic organization known as One Michigan for Immigrant Rights (I have received this organization’s consent to include their name in this article) that advocates for the human rights of all immigrants in the United States. I had asked to come speak at the event. They agreed to do it, even though they had concerns with the types of flaws I mentioned above.
In my inexperienced way, I accidentally shortened the route of the protest, and speakers went more quickly than I expected. The time I gave this group to speak, ended up being after the event was over.
By the time the speakers arrived, we were all gone. It literally looked like there was never a protest in Ann Arbor that day. Some of the speakers within the group were undocumented, and took an unbelievably large risk to come to this protest….and I let them down.
Now, thankfully, nothing happened to these individuals that threatened their safety because of my incompetence…..but I had done nothing to protect them. I was focused on the event itself, and not the people that made the event happen. I was in over my head, and no amount of intent changes the fact that I should have never put people in that position.
Their lead organizer called me and was justifiably upset. I didn’t know she was recording the call at the time (and I would later be upset about that….but she was right to do so).
***I received consent from One Michigan for Immigrant Rights to include the video, linked here***
To recap what is in the video above, you can hear me on the phone being:
- Loud and upset at the frustration I was receiving from the group
- Defensive about my intents as an organizer
- Apologies and ownership that are always followed by justifications of my actions and how it was an accident….as if that makes it forgivable
Now, I have had people try to tell me later in life, that I am too hard on myself for this event. I can tell you this, it messed me up. I went to therapy for it for months. I hate the idea of hurting people, or making mistakes. Thus, when I do, I often make it worse by trying to defend my actions and intent, to make that internal criticism stop.
My actions and intent did not matter in this moment. My incompetence and subconscious need to be centered (in a leadership role) in the actions of this event, put this group in harms way.
I was wrong, and they deserved compensation from me….full stop.
Why are you sharing this now?
Well, for one. I was ashamed of my actions. I was ashamed that I didn’t just support local protests led by real organizers within the communities most impacted by injustice. I was embarrassed that I took a value of mine (supporting equal rights), and had to center myself in the actions I finally did take.
And to save some comments, I know there was good intent, and good probably came out of the event….but how many small victories do white people need to pat themselves on the back for? When will we see the real damage we do, when we think we are helping?
And then when we are called out for that damage we caused….do we own it? Or do we act like I did?
A defensive, loud, insecure, fragile, white person that needs to be told how good he is all the time.
That needs to be addressed…right now in this moment, so that we can begin to deconstruct these problematic behaviors.
Finally, I deserve no praise for this article.
I don’t deserve to be praised for doing the right thing and calling out my own problematic actions in a public forum.
If I am going to ask you to be better, then I need to own my own flaws and continue the work to ensure I grow, and make good on that growth to the communities impacted by my past actions.
I hope you think about the values that you can do a better job of upholding moving forward……and uphold them because it is right……not because you get in the newspaper, or a pat on the back, or a tax write-off for a donation.
Do good for others because it is actually good for them, not you.
