I remember sitting on the floor of the library stairwell in my grad school town, talking to my mom on the phone, crying.

Nat Oleander

I remember sitting on the floor of the library stairwell in my grad school town, talking to my mom on the phone, crying. We hadn't been back in contact for long. It was November 8, 2016.

She wouldn't tell me who she'd voted for, and I knew what that meant.

I didn't yet know how the election would turn out. But it scared me that we'd have to contend with the Trump voters after all this.

Nat Oleander

As I told her about my fears—whatever I said, I don't remember the specifics—she quickly answered "Well, you know, your dad has been scared of Obama for the past eight years."

As if those fears were the same as mine.

Some anxiety is just racism.

A lot of it, in fact.

Anyway, my parents haven't met my partner or my baby and they're probably never going to.

Faith, Queen of Purple :v_tg: :v_lb: :v_greyace:

@nat Yup! The right wing has invested heavily in trying to make anything left sound scary. And it worked. One of my mom's phrases is "fascism on the left" by which she means things like that ACA. No, mom, that's just health care. You don't know what that word means, do you? ‍️

Nat Oleander

@faithisleaping Yeah. They react to *accurate* labeling as if it's fear-mongering and conspiracy theories as if they're gospel.

Which makes sense given how they "interpret" their gospel to mean whatever they want it to.

Hard to converse with people to whom words are meaningless.