Celebrating Biden’s win is not complacent. What is? Chastising those who are.
Why marketing hopelessness is a dangerous means to the engagement we need for change
On November 3rd, 2020, the American people helped themselves (and the rest of us), by showing up to the polls, and voting as they’ve never voted before. In spite of the egregious voter suppression tactics including wait times of over 10 hours, the 2020 election is going down in the books as the greatest voter turnout in U.S. history.
That’s major.
As the Biden administration became a tangible reality, the voices of certain progressive folks became increasingly audible; ironic ‘RIP Racism 2016–2020!’ social media posts and similar messages spread across platforms, interrupting the joy of the collective.
Under their sarcastic posts, the realists argued that rejoicing in any aspect of an inherently unjust system is foolish, as the establishment remains the same.
This premise isn’t wrong, but it is incomplete.
While Biden will not be the saviour to dismantle white patriarchal capitalism some were hoping for — his presidency will, and has made a difference that already has had an international impact; ask the Canadians whose government has been unapologetic about its continued investments in brown energy.
The day of his inauguration, Biden signed an executive order to block the Keystone XL Pipeline, marking the end of an $8 billion construction project meant to carry oil sands crude to the American Gulf Coast.
While the establishment may be the same, employing this truth in response to celebration is harmful on multiple levels.
The truth can be dishonest.
Perhaps it’s in the way that Trump has accustomed us to plain lies, but we seem to be less sensitive about the ways facts — accurate ones — can be cherry-picked to distort reality.
Interrupting the public displays of hope with the reality of a broken system is dishonest in the way that it strips the joy of its rightful context, and imposes upon it a grimmer one.
No, this is not the end of injustice, but progress is progress, and progress matters.
Change is a marathon, not a race.
When participating in community-based endeavours like politics, it is important for us to mind the impact of such undertakings on ourselves, and on those around us.
Political institutions are a long way from ‘perfect’. That’s specifically why it’s imperative we give ourselves (and others) the permission to feel the wins; to soak in each step made in the right direction. Our collective sanity and longevity depend on it.
Hopelessness breeds complacency.
To disempower citizens who showed up and got involved is to actively disincentivize them from doing so again; It is to reignite within marginalized communities the internalized lies that they do not matter, and therefore shouldn’t bother with the system.
In the age of the ‘if you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention’ rhetoric, it is imperative that we have conversations about committing to productive, empowering activism. Why? Because no one can live in perpetual outrage; encouraging people to do so is immoral.
Holding public servants accountable is essential to any democracy, but we each have the responsibility to take care of ourselves and those around us. It’s been a long four years.
So, to all the Americans who voted for change: Rejoice, you’ve earned it.
