Unfriending

I believe in listening to opposing views on the political and human spectrum. I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh 20 years ago while commuting to school, mostly so I could hear what the other side was thinking. I also listened to Dr. Laura, and was once treated to her condemnation of the American Library Association as I was driving to library school!

So when I was introduced to some of my Texas cousins, I wanted to keep an open mind about their political views. Not all of them had strong right-wing views, but one of my cousins does. After our trip the two of us connected on social media. It's super interesting that she is pro-trump but works in the medical profession, and I had held out hope that maybe she wasn't such a racist, or any kind of a racist. Recently, however she started reposting online petitions, (like one against retaining a Confederate statue in the town our ancestors lived in). Please -- our ancestor fought for the North. I just signed the opposite petition, in order to cancel out her vote.

Today I had to give up. When someone says "I didn't do anything" in response to discussions of white privilege and racism, there isn't anything that sharing opposing views will handle. Plus her friends are worse than she is. One said that people should be able to shoot at protesters who deface monuments. Another said that the knot used in the noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage is a blahblah knot used by the Navy, and any sane person would use that knot in that circumstance (only he's the only black driver in that circuit and nobody used that "knot" in the other garages.

I just said my peace: "Would you like to be treated the way your black friends are treated? No? I rest my case." and unfriended. This is the post she agrees with wholeheartedly that elicited the comments above.