DISMANTLING THE IDEOLOGIES OF POWER
Chris Hedges writes that dawning of new social and economic structures begins with dismantling, piece by piece, of the ideological narratives that maintain power and wealth for the ruling elites. It’s important to attend to this nonviolent dismantling because many people within today’s governing structures will understand the truth when they hear it; they will be able to relate new truths to the false ideologies that support what they’ve actually been doing in their own careers.
From my time as a sort of unofficial chaplain of the Tampa Occupy movement, I know anecdotally that this is true. Night after night, while Occupy was encamped at Curtis Hixon Park, on-duty first responders would drive by, honking their horns and waving as clear gestures of support.That was the tip of the iceberg.
It seems to that it is both relevant and timely to use the unraveling of transgender bathroom rights as an example of ideological dismantling. A closer look at the underlying reasons for revoking these rights shows a conspiracy of cynicism, hypocrisy, and discredited rationales.
The Trump administration’s reasons for the sudden change in policy boil down to: states’ rights and traditional values, Those are the ideological values which will appeal to a large number of Trump’s supporters and have the “sound” of good, solid American values. Both are, however, code words, used over many many decades to deny rights to some Americans which are supposedly available to all. When such words, or their equivalents, are used by an Attorney General with a long record of racial and LGBT discrimination, no one can deny what they mean, other than the restoration of such policies with Federal imprimatur.
Of necessity, due to the recalcitrance of southern states, the Federal government has been the proper enforcer of civil rights since the adoption of the 14th Amendment (which has still, almost 150 years after its adoption, not been fully implemented). Under the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court found (unanimously) in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that “separate but equal” was inherently unequal. Federal troops were sent into southern states to enforce non-discrimination in education against “states’ rights.” In Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the Court protected marriage as a fundamental right of ALL people (imagine that!).
But listen to the words which surround this latest destruction of rights. Less than a year ago, Trump said that when people go to the restroom, they should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.” Do we now believe what he said, or was that merely one of many cynical ploys used in his campaign. In issuing these new directives, the government wraps them in hypocritical language: they want to “protect all students,” and to foster an “open and inclusive process.” Coupling such words of inclusiveness with actions clearly intended to exclude and marginalize is typical of elite wordsmithing in defense of oppression. They must be exposed and challenged, shown up to all for what they are.
This is what it means to dismantle. The motivations of the elite are on public display, if only we can see them and show them to others. The more the expose of the rich and powerful, the sooner their dominance will be ended and the people restored to their rightful place in society and humanity.
