More on the Republicans and the Democrats

A different way to look at how COVID and its aspects have affected the political divide.

The following highlights the origin of the term Fake News and why it is a possible reason for the great political divide.

I recently had this experience in my workplace. The state of Washington has the first ever state Office of Equity. This office created a monthly “Real Talk” space lead by 4-5 leaders of different state agencies or commissions. They are all leaders who identify as BIPOC. During Black History Month, we had the privilege to hear from one state agency whose director has committed to becoming a pro-equity, anti-racist organization. During this journey, many leaders have left opening the door for new leadership to be put in place. While the agency is led by a white women, her two deputies are a black man and a black woman (both with PhDs), and the equity program is run by a black woman (with her JD). All four showed up to Real Talk to tell us about the successes and hardships that are happening with this work. The last person to speak was the black, female deputy. We were actually given a warning prior to her speaking that she would be engaged in this conversation in the only way she knew how – unapologetically herself which would include the use of profanity. She opened her dialogue with us with a statement of “I am m-f- realness”. I knew at that point this meeting was amazing. We try to hide white supremacy under the guise of “professionalism” and for her to be in this space emphasizing that she can be a “professional”, she can do this work, she can bring community and agency together and she doesn’t have to give up herself in order to do so was intense. I walked away from that meeting and told colleagues and friends that I had just attended the best meeting in my 10 years of public service. Little did I know, the backlash from that meeting would ultimately result in the deputy leaving the agency. The use of profanity in the workplace was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Office of Equity was targeted, the deputy was targeted. The subsects of groups within her agency used this meeting to complain to the director, the ethics board, and the unions. To add to the growing list of complaints against her, folks latched on to the word “dope” that she loves to use. The disability group filed a complaint that she was using discriminatory language against people with disabilities. Four weeks after the Black History Month meeting, the deputy sent an email to the entire agency (about 2500 staff) that she was going to no longer use profanity or the word dope in the workplace. That despite telling everyone when she was hired that she would not code-switch, she would not change who she was at the core of her being, her language resulted in the unrelenting attacks from others (mainly those who identify as cis and white) that broke her down on both an emotional and physical level. A beautiful black woman who knowingly accepted a position that involved dismantling racism and connecting community to the agency lasted a little over 3 months before she could no longer stay in that space for her own well-being.
And now I watch as those who attacked her continue their attacks on others. I watch as her peers and those who supported her cry tears of pain for what they witnessed, attempted to stop, and continue to deal with today. If we will continue to be judged by standards of “professionalism” that dictate what we can wear, the artwork on our bodies, the color/style of our hair, or the words that we use, we will remain institutions of white supremacy through our gatekeeping of others.

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_is_black_fatigue_and_how_can_we_protect_employees_from_it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wALwzjVwM7g

I would guide students to use context clues for the meaning of all these words, then use morphemic analysis for each word. I love studying Greek/Latin roots with kids because they can be so powerful for vocabulary analysis of so many words.

I couldn’t agree more with you. I saw some trend about using eco bag for our personal bag. when i look at it, it turns out to be quite fashionable! I think I will start using it for my personal bag.