Skip to main content

Senator Josh Hawley Lives in Another America

Image from the Boston Globe

Opposing the President Joe Biden nomination Kiran Ahuja for director of Office of Personnel Management, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) took to the floor of congress and like most members of his party does, proceeded to say some really stupid ish. Hawley said that the America he sees and knows is not systemically racist. I don't think I can find a single GIF that would properly convey the flat, blinking expression I have on my face as I look at the plate of nonsense he just served up. 

Hawley is a white man. Of course he sees a different a America. He lives in an American that black people and other people of color do not. Because he is white, he gets to move through life and the country without experiencing the systemic racism that non-whites encounter on a regular basis. He doesn't have to fear that police are going to harm him over some trivial garbage like vaping on the sidewalk, or fear that his life may be in danger during a routine jog. He doesn't have to worry about being represented in media because as a white man, he is the default. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream is one of, if not his most famous speeches. White folks especially love the quote "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character," as a flimsy way around admitting that systemic racism exists and is very much part of American life, while at the same time treating people differently because they are not white.


But Dr. King also had another speech, a really dang good one, one you probably won't hear white people discuss. It is called The Other America. In this speech Dr. King details the two Americas that exist along side each other. The first America is one where white people are favored. The Other America, to be brief, is less than ideal and one that people of Another America would not want to live in. This speech also has the famous quote "a riot is the language of the unheard." 

The Other America is a speech that still holds so much meaning today. It is so hard for white people to see the Other America because they live in Another America, the one that Hawley occupies. Another America is not perfect but next to the Other America, it is practically paradise. Another America benefits from the Other America's oppression, something Hawley is oblivious to because again, he's white.

Photo via New York Times

What prompted Hawley to go off on his America-is-not-racist tangent? Well, a year ago, Ahuja said that "we must free America from the daily trials of white supremacy." And of course, that hit Hawley right in his white fragility feels. Because any criticism of America being a racist country and any sort of attempt to remedy it is a personal attack to white people. 

Ahuja was just barely confirmed in 51-50 vote with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. Ahuja  is Indian-America and an advocate for Critical Race Theory, which explains why Hawley and the rest of the republicans oppose her nomination. With her being a person of color, I'm go out on a limb and say that Ahuja knows first hand what the Other America is like. 

TLDR; Hawley is white, he doesn't experience systemic racism, so it doesn't exist. 

Another America is also known as White America. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Super Hero Secret IDs & Their Friends

I've always felt Clark Kent has had one of the poorest disguises of all time for a secret Identity. All he does is straight up his "S" curl so it isn't visible and put on some glasses. Well, also depending on the era, Clark is either goes out of his way to be a bumbling idiot so people don't suspect he's an alien from another world, or here's the non-clumsy modern version. Personally, I like both, but if Lois is indeed a star reporter then she'd have to see through that disguise. Let's be realistic here. No one is that clumsy unless they are trying to be. I actually read a post on a message board that Lois finding out that Clark was Superman takes away from the whole dynamic. Seriously? The dynamic of making Lois look like a complete idiot who is unable to see what is right in front of her? I didn't miss that one bit. In fact, one of the few problems I had with Superman The Animated Series is that Warner Brothers didn't allow the creators t
2 comments
Read more

Hooray for Reprints!

The Green Goblin has often been touted as Spider-Man's deadliest foe. He is what the Joker is to Batman. I wonder if Stan knew back when Gobby first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #14 that the Goblin would become the menace that he is to Spidey today. What makes the Goblin such an interesting foe isn't the costume. No. Much like Spider-Man, Gobby is such a great villain because the man underneath the suit is fascinating. Norman Osborn is one effed up dude to say the least. He was so annoyed with Spider Man getting in his way that he the battle between the two of them personal. He discovered Spidey's secret ID, revealed his own identity to the wall-crawler and would later go on to make Spidey's life a living nightmare. Gobby not only screws up Spidey's life, he screws up the lives of those Spidey cares about like Flash Thompson or if your name is Gwen Stacy, thinks ain't lookin' too good for you. I've read every early Spidey/Gobby story except one and it
8 comments
Read more

Marvel Wants to Hear From YOU!

In the letter page of Amazing Spider-Man #565, Spidey editor Steve Wacker filled the page with nothing but negative letters from readers that hate Brand New Day. Who says Marvel doesn't listen to the fans? And what's more, Mr. Wacker has even asked us to write in and tell them how we feel. Can you believe that? It takes class to run nothing but angry letters and a couple of those to the right are pretty nasty. My mother actually suggested I write to the editor and state my feelings on the molestation of Spider-Man in ASM. I'd been meaning to write them, but I just never sat down to do so. With the editor of the Spidey books kindly saying that the letter's page is "the place to vent," I think the time has finally come for me to express myself. I don't know if it will get printed since I've stopped reading ASM, but if they take my letter and many others that are outraged by BND to heart, then that's all that matters. Dear ASM Staff, Do you know what
6 comments
Read more