justice is a verb

When millions banded together for the Women’s March following Trump’s inauguration, many of a certain persuasion decried this as an outrageously divisive act of liberal whining.

Far from it. I saw men and women of all persuasions and ethnicities united in solidarity. A great deal more than half of our country, and many others around the world, united to demand equal rights. It was not just a demand for women to not be seen as objects, it was a demand that everyone be treated as equal human beings; that Muslims not be ostracized, that Hispanics not be made to live in fear of losing the place they call home, that the LGBT’s not lose all the progress of acceptance that they’ve fought so hard for, that every American should be entitled to health care. These are pretty basic human rights, and enough people felt those rights being threatened that they couldn’t be silent.

Standing up and taking action for what you believe in is not whining. Being the change you wish to see in the world is not whining.

Was it whiny liberalism that prompted the British to revolt and leave behind a tyrannical monarchy that wasn’t serving the interest of the people? And was it whining when they dumped tea into the Boston harbor as a non-violent protest against unfair tax practices?

Was the Emancipation Proclamation whining?

Was women’s suffrage whining?

Was Dr. King’s speech about judging people by their character rather than their color whining?

Were the teachings of Jesus Christ whining? During his lifetime, I’m sure many saw him as the equivalent of a “whiny liberal,” and they killed him for it.

Let’s not forget that protest is what got us here. Dissent from a system that was failing its people is what made America possible. Standing up and doing something about injustice is what made America great.

So when we hear someone who wants to lead the free world brag that he can get away with grabbing a woman by the pussy* just because he’s famous, you better believe we’re not going to sit idly by and let half the population be seen as objects of his pleasure, property to be grabbed. We should see statements like that as a symptom of a greater problem, and it should be loud and clear that this is not okay. If taxation without representation was a valid reason to symbolically give the middle finger to the British monarchy, then why the backlash when we unite and wear hats and insist to be treated like human beings?

*If this word still shocks you and you feel the need to apologize for using it, remember whose mouth it came from first. It should bother you. Then think long and hard about whether the idea of talking about treating women in the way our president boasts about bothers you half as much as the words used.

If we are lucky, we are surrounded by people who have many different points of view, some drastically different from our own. That’s a good thing. That’s another reason that America is great. I take it as a good sign that not many people I personally know would have a problem with a women’s march and are more progressive than to use such a divisive and derogatory phrase as “whiny libtard,” but there are a few. I can agree to disagree with them without blocking them from social media or giving them the cold shoulder in person. (When they go low, you go high.) I try to avoid any kind of “us” and “them” language, because we are all “us”. That kind of language is divisive, indicates that a divide already exists, and it is best to avoid even thinking in the terms “us” and “them.”

Any time I’m tempted to use the word “them,” I step back and force myself to identify who I’m visualizing. Is it someone of a different political affiliation? I couldn’t care less if someone voted differently than I did, and I certainly don’t let a political party creep into how I identify myself or other people. Is “them” someone of a different gender? If I’m fighting for equality, we are no different. There is no room for me to think of anyone as “them,” as other than myself.

Social justice doesn’t come from sitting silently by. It doesn’t always look polite. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do. Just because it’s polarizing doesn’t mean it’s divisive. Will I fall on the right side of history? I probably won’t know in my lifetime. But I would rather die knowing that the stances I took were out of love for people based on their intrinsic value rather than judging them for their actions, that I erred on the side of compassion rather than exclusion, and that in standing up for others I never put anyone down, even those who vehemently disagreed with me.

Taking a stand against bad ideas isn’t hateful. Hating bad thinking isn’t the same as hating the people who espouse those ideas. When you see something problematic, something that is hurting people, and you don’t say or do anything about it, that is wrong. We should love our fellow human beings enough to want to correct the injustices in the world. When we see all humans as humans and start seeing justice as a verb, that’s how we change the world.

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