I started this post last month; after Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were killed by ICE in Minneapolis, but I never finished it. I’m gonna publish it in its unfinished state just so I don’t lose my thoughts from the time.
I guess I feel the need to write more when things are tough. Looking at the history of my posts, unless I was committing to some schedule, I write when times in my life or community or country are bad. If it wasn’t clear from my recent post, things are bad.
But I’m also noticing that I’m not alone here. It’s gotten bad enough that people who try to avoid politics, really can’t avoid it. Here’s a sampling from a quick scroll through my feed:
Yes, these are real posts and I hope I’m not outing anyone here — definitely not my intention. I’m trying to highlight this as a real posture. I have probably written “I’m not political,” myself, and if I didn’t write/post it, I have definitely said it. Maybe what we’re avoiding is sounding partisan or trying to reclaim our own voice in a polarized society; a version of “You don’t know me!” At least that’s the generous view/explanation that I could give it. But I’m learning to see how apolitical is just privilege.
You can’t really be apolitical.
To be “apolitical” really means that whatever issue you’re being asked to be “political” on doesn’t directly affect you, so you can wait. You can suspend judgment or delay chiming in because at the moment, you’re safe! As I write this I recall the lines from MLK’s Letter From Birmingham Jail where he speaks against fellow clergy calling for patience in the midst of injustice. He goes on to write, “I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say ‘wait.’”
If we’re to identify with those on the margins “apolitical” can’t be our calling. It self-incriminates before we can do anything else. Being apolitical is being on the side of power. of the status quo. of maintaining “order” on the backs of the marginalized.
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