A couple days ago I came across a meme that complimented President Obama and his family and the lack of personal scandals while in the White House, and the last sentence was along the lines of "contrary to what all white Christians thought possible." I can't remember the words exactly, but clearly the intent was to paint all white Christians as racist. I went looking for the meme again and can't find it. Perhaps someone removed it (one hopes).
Normally stuff like that I let roll off my back. There are so many cranks and trolls out there in the interwebs and those I trust and love have a more educated and nuanced view of the world. But I can't shake the words out of my mind. Why do I care about this, what does it matter?
Which led me to this conclusion. I am SO TIRED of people speaking for me and claiming to know my beliefs just because of my demographics. I am white, Christian, a woman, a mom, a working mom, a theater mom, a soccer mom (never owned a mini van tho :-)), a military vet, a retiree, an aviation professional, an artist, a Virginian, a voter, not quite old enough to be a Baby Boomer and yet not a Gen Xer...I am many things. Some of my friends and family are similar and some are completely different, it's the mix that makes life interesting.
But the broad brush of racism and many other -isms gets old. Please stop, world, please stop deciding you know everything about me. Please stop talking and listen. Please stop claiming you know how an entire group of many hundreds of thousands of Americans think. Please.
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