Drawing the line at democracy
With dirty hands
Is a protest righteous if it ignores our ugliest failures?
Is it enough to care about Americans and not what Americans do? Can we fight to protect the Constitution if we are fighting arm-in-arm with leaders who support genocide? I am having a hard time compartmentalizing.
On February 19, Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke at the University of Michigan and said this about the floundering Democratic Party, “If you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy.” And I think he’s right. The American left rejects attempts to whitewash slavery, segregation, colonization, and the plunder of Native lives and land. So why are we denying and ignoring our responsibility for the atrocities taking place in Gaza today?
On March 31 and April 1, Corey Booker spoke eloquently and with endurance about dignity, humanity, and civil rights. I watched parts of Booker's 25-hour record-setting floor speech and was inspired. Finally, a Democrat had done something. The next day, Booker voted in favor of $15-billion in military aid for Netanyahu, whose definition of self-defense includes the killing of children, aid workers, and journalists.
On April 5, during a nationwide Hands Off protest, we carried signs and wore sunblock or raincoats. More than a million, mostly white people, took to the streets across America to protect our retirement funds and social security, to protect public lands and national parks. White people took to the streets, and I was among them. We waved at honking cars. There was no tear gas, mass arrests, tasers, or dogs. We were mostly quiet (and complacent) about the US support for Israel. I left the march excited but with a pit in my stomach for the signs I did not see, for the signs I did not carry.
Some of you might argue by recounting an evil deed performed by Hamas. And you’d be right; they have engaged in genuinely vile acts, and I do not suggest that America switch sides and send weapons to them instead. And, of course, Israel has a right to defend itself, but killing children, journalists, and aid workers is NOT self-defense.
As of April 8, according to the BBC, more than 50,000 Palestinians have died since Israel began its retaliation, and more than 15,000 of those deaths were children. Additionally, 113,000 have been injured since Israel began to defend itself. Since March 2, Israel has blocked aid into the Gaza Strip; this is the longest aid blockage since the war started.
Footnotes:
To see a complete list of the war crimes committed against Gaza, see the United Nations list here.
Ta-Nehisi Coates quote was pulled from an article by Juan Cole published Feb. 20, 2025, on Informed Content.
I have a couple friends who are the dearest and nicest and kindest people but are Jewish or identify as Jewish and I cannot talk to them about Gaza. They live in a different ecosystem about that particular issue and it is one that strikes the core of their identities, so facts cannot get through.
Should I call them out? Sever the friendship? It won’t do any good. They have to come to it themselves.
Throughout my life I’ve also been friends with Chinese citizens who deeply deeply believe Taiwan should not exist because it is part of their national identify, and I imagine it’s something like that.