Defending Blue Locations
The Blue Nation is rallying itself. Like a prizefighter staggered by an initial barrage of blows to the body, which left us staggered, our peeps are finding their legs and pushing back. A few examples are instructive and offer us models for our behavior in every nook and cranny of the country.
I heard a CEO of a major nonprofit organization speaking recently.[1] Her organization practices DEI in its institutional operations. It receives very little in the way of federal government funding. She declared that if anyone asked her if she was worried about federal retribution for the organization clinging to DEI practices. Her retort: ‘I tell people that we refuse to take federal money because WE object to its White supremacist values that would take our country back to the 19th century.’
On a recent family visit to Florida, we visited a local museum of African American history. We were fortunate to meet the woman who had been a driving force in the museum’s founding. It was part of an interpretive history tour one could take to witness sites of the rich history of the battles against Jim Crow in this corner of the South. They had some federal support via the Smithsonian Institute but are largely funded through private donors. However, she declared that the museum would not be scrubbing its website nor the message one received while visiting.
And just yesterday I had lunch with a former student of mine who works for a big tech company. They had previously openly declared their implementation of DEI policies. They no longer do that but continue to operate ‘in he same way as they did’ before Trump got re-elected. She is one of two White people in a regional work group of eight that includes six brown people from around Latin America.
These are heartening examples of Blue locations where our nationals are refusing to obey in advance to Red nation demands that multiracialism be erased from our national psyche. There must be many more examples near where you live. When you hear about them, support them with your time, money, and physical presence!
[1] I’m choosing not to name the individuals or institutions involved here to protect them from targeting by Red Nation enemies.