Yes We Did vs. Make America Great Again (Systemic Narcissism is a Thing)

I'm nostalgic today. Remember that moment when Yes We Can turned into Yes We Did?  We did that.

We elected the first-ever Partly Brown Man to head the United States of America. Our history evolved from systemic oppression to actualization of The American Dream, and then we let it roll back. 

I was accused, by friends who self-identify as pro-equality freethinkers, of being racially motivated to vote for Obama. I'll cop to that. I never expected him to be a Magical Politician. I voted for the only Brown Person Non-Good-Ol-Boy to get to the Superbowl in my lifetime, because I could. Because I was sick of the White Patriarchy holding all of us down; not just brown people, all of us. Systemic narcissism hurt me, too, and it still does. 

We overcame. And then we stayed home, and the White Patriarchy stood up.

No, this also affects you. 

Moneypenny is not just a secretary. She is a bright, forward-thinking young person; she is the future of America. She helps me try to unravel the obstinacy of well-meaning White folks who can't understand the fact of their privilege (and let me say I don't think 'privilege' is the word we should be using here) and we came to a conclusion. We think there's a ubiquitous mindset, and it isn't necessarily racially motivated:

"We know our father is abusive, and racist; he treats us badly as well, but he's a good guy. He's just acting the same way as his father. My husband is just doing what he learned as a kid. We put up with it. Why can't you?"

Why can't you people who aren't related to us just let us do our thing? Why are you trying to do your own thing? It's not normal. Being like us is normal.

Just Be Normal - somebody actually told me that. Some white guy over 60 who smelled like an ash-tray.

White America, the one that has very few brown people in proximity, has made do with what they've got. They've learned to accept what they're given by the White Patriarchal System without naming it as thus. It's just normal. They don't identify with the problems of multicultural cities. They do recognise the abuse of systemic narcissism, but refuse to confront it. You see? Here's a new label for us.

What they don't see is the way men who hold offices - corporate or governmental - have set up institutions to exclude anyone not in the privileged zone. Democracy Now has published this well-researched article. Well-meaning White Americans just have faith that the institutions are fair and God-fearing. They're not. If you haven't gone through the paperwork, you don't know. If you weren't in the locker room to hear the talk, you don't know. Locker Room Talk is a term for the things we don't say in front of people outside our club.

"Locker Room Talk" should be a crime with a viable punishment.

What our country needs is for all of us - ALL OF US - to come out in unity for goodness and progress at the very next opportunity. Even if the next opportunity is not a brown person, come out in numbers against what we don't believe in. Please let us recapture decency. Get our country back.

Hey, White People? Stop condoning that shit. If you see your friends acting this way, call them on it. Nicely, of course.