How to NOT be a bystander
Trump and his Nazi friends are hoping that we just stand idly by and let them spread injustice. Standing up to them and preventing their infection of our Democracy and the American spirit is mandatory. If you can not be aggressively against them; we all have things to do, jobs, family, etc. Then at the very least, you can not stand by and let them do this, there is no excuse for this at all.
Don't be neutral. Don't be about "order", don't rush to say the people out against the Nazis are anarchists or destructive. Neutrality in the face of oppression is assistance to that oppression. Don't be about the status quo and about preserving order when a Nazi is free to spread injustice, because there is something very wrong with that status quo and order if that is the case.
Don't be picky about who you defend. Don't be tolerant and inclusive, but then have that one group you have "cooties for adults" for. All groups that are targets of Nazis are worthy of love and protection. Black, GLBLTQ, Hispanic, Immigrant, Jewish, Liberal, Muslim, Poor, Refugee, Sick with pre-existing conditions, etc. They are all of us, we are them. Don't tolerate an attack on these people and groups, if the Nazis come looking for them, say you are one of them. "First they came for..." The only correct response is "Not this time!"
Don't give them an inch. Don't agree with them. Don't see where they are right. Don't give them equal time. In fact, treat the person who says "I'm a liberal but I agree with what you are saying" as the same as them... and they probably are.
Don't let Nazis divide us. Support interfaith groups and projects, don't divide transgender from GLBTQ, don't let them separate us in terms of race, gender, and class. They will seek to find ways to divide us, that is for sure. Liberal and progressive Muslims and Russians aren't our allies... they are our brothers and sisters. We need to remember that.
Don't let them be wrong and let them get away with it. When you see Nazis spouting logical fallacies, when you see them making obvious errors, generalizations like arguing using anecdotes, blaming the victim, confirmation bias, moving the goalposts, etc., then at the very least you need to call them out on it just once, call it out! Don't let their dogma float out there unchallenged.
Don't let them define what "normality" and "deviance" are. The only way they get to say they are normal and protests against them are unlawful or if we need to "needed a permit" to stand up to them in the first place is if we agree with them. Don't let them say they are the normal ones and everyone else is in the wrong.
Don't let them frame the language. They have language they use. "Cultural Marxism" and "Political Correctness" are examples. Sometimes you see it even see it being said by progressives. Stop. Deflate their language, their tropes, and their cliches. Only use words like "political correctness" in order to debunk it as a right wing strawman or to make fun of it in the way they talk about it.
Don't say you can't help. Find local resources to help people out, support groups like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and many more. There is a great number of ways you can help... Donate, spread the word about them, even that helps them out.
Don't shrug. Never shrug. If you feel your shoulders start to lift up and think you can't care anymore. Put your shoulders back down; that's Heather, that's Nabra, that's Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai, that's Yusor, Deah, and Razan, that's Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, that's Reat Griffin Underwood and William Lewis Corporon, that's Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson, Cynthia Hurd, Suzie Jackson, Ethel Lance, and DePayne Middleton-Doctor, and many others helping to push them back down.
= new reply since forum marked as read
