Almost thankful

This is about unintended consequences. About silver linings and unexpected results. About how something really bad can weirdly produce something wonderful. About something mean and ugly that you could almost, but not quite, be thankful for. Can a terrible and tragic thing that ends up causing a beautiful and remarkable thing create its own redemption?

Two things happened recently, on the same day, one nationally and one very locally, that evoked these thoughts. The first was the SCOTUS - or rather Justice Scalia - decision to look at Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Some background. Section 5 is the part of the VRA that prevents certain states, or parts of states, with a proven record of voter suppression or intimidation, from changing their voting practices or election laws without the permission of the Justice Department. In other words, if you are a place that has a habit of disenfranchising minority groups, you will have oversight to keep you from doing it again. And don't think this is specific to African Americans in the south. It is also for Hispanics in the west, Native Americans in Alaska and even French Americans in New Hampshire. It is a key part of the VRA and in 2006 was reauthorized by Congress for twenty-five years after extensive (here is a nice summary of only 50 pages) research that decided it was still a good idea to protect the voting rights of minority voters. Say that again: protect the voting rights. How that turns into Scalia's "minority entitlement" truly baffles me. These groups aren't being given something, certainly nothing special or extra, but rather having something, that is their constitutional right, protected. And there is little question that those rights still need protecting. There were numerous attempts to suppress voting in places subject to Section 5 that were prevented by federal judges only because Section 5 still existed. And this didn't happen back in 2006, but last year. 

There is another question involved here as well. This statement by Scalia also far overreaches the mandate of the Supreme Court. This issue is legislative. The court's job is to ensure the constitutionality of legislation, not write or pass it. Scalia is concerned that "this is not the kind of question you can leave to congress" and that senators might be overly concerned that they might "lose votes if they don't re-enact". Let me get this straight, your honor. Congress shouldn't be trusted to legislate and members of congress shouldn't be influenced by their constituents? Mustn't let democracy get in the way of judicial fiat. 

But, and this speaks to original point, the actions of this small-minded, egotistical, conniving and probably racist asshole might be just what we needed. I have heard Scalia defended on the grounds that he is trying to create a truly colorblind society and that as long as we have minority distinctions we will always be subject to "mischief". Please. And Chief Justice Roberts has said that "things have changed in the South." Really? That must be why Section 5 is still, currently, being actively employed? Anyone who thinks we are in a post-racial society because we have a black President is delusional to the point of insanity. And it should be considered that there are probably some people who honestly don't make it an issue of race but rather one of ideology. They aren't trying to suppress voting by those groups only because of their race, but because they vote against them, which makes for a scary kind of practical racism. I just shuddered. But on the other side of this argument there is just the kind of outrage and anger that we need. People are pissed! 

And they - we! - should be. I think the argument can be made that President Obama's elections have actually brought out the racism in this country, not proven that we are past it. We had fallen into complacency about civil rights, convinced ourselves we were progressive and that affirmative action had done its job. We wanted to believe that we had finally reached "all men created equal" because we were tired of worrying about it. And look! A black President! We must be enlightened. The reality is that it reminded people, and scared them, that we might actually be moving forward and we'd better stop. This horrific SCOTUS move is just a stark example of that sentiment and might serve to ignite the type of passion, dedication and action that was needed back in 1965 to get the Civil Rights Act passed to begin with. So it comes to be that I am almost thankful - almost! - for Antonin Scalia.

The other event that brought about this train of thought was the actions of the Westborough Baptist Church. If you don't know these fuckers, they are the ones who have gained notoriety for their "God Hates Fags" mantra and for picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in combat. You can learn more about them here, but in all seriousness I advise caution in visiting their website. To learn about them is to see evil. They thank God for soldiers who die in Afghanistan and pray for the deaths of thousands more. They are not your average fundamentalist crazy, but something truly extreme and horrible. And they, in the space of three days, visited both my high school alma mater and current college workplace. Weird, right? Their thing is to target an entity - school, business, movie, whatever - they feel is being bad. You know, by being inclusive, open-minded, or "supporting the fag agenda". They show up and picket, usually four or five people with hateful signs (they have each person carry three or four signs so it's kind of like having more actual people, right?) make their point - whatever it might actually be - and leave. They take pride in how many thousands of protests they have held and are sickeningly smug and self-satisfied. So how could I possibly be even almost thankful for these horrible people?

Start by watching this. Way to go Samohi! It made me proud to be a graduate and to call Santa Monica my home town. But it was only a prelude to the outpouring of emotion I would feel for the response that happened at Vassar College on February 28th when it was the WBC's turn to visit our "Ivy League Whorehouse". The response was overwhelming. We had speakers, forums, panels, and vigils. We had solidarity, conviction and passion. We had support from all over the Hudson Valley and beyond. We had alums from all over the country coming in just for the day to stand together. We had thousands - thousands! - of people coming together to combat hate and intolerance. We had good old-fashioned by golly peace, love and understanding! Was it sometimes easy, knee-jerk liberalism? Probably, but the end result was undeniable: it felt good. Good to see people caring about and promoting inclusion. Good to stand with people I love and respect defiant of hate and fear. And when even brushing up against the evil of people like the WBC makes you feel so bad - dirty and disgusted bad - feeling good is enough. And there was an actual tangible and powerful result of their actions as well. An inspired and enterprising Vassar alum set up a site to raise money for the Trevor Project, his goal to raise $4,500, one hundred for each minute the WBC planned to protest. The amount raised is up to over $100,000 and still rising, as you can see and if you are so moved, join in, here. While it is hard to know their actual goals, I can only think that such an achievement has to be the exact opposite of what the WBC wants. Massive monetary support for an organization the helps the very people they hate can't be a win for them. And anything that acts in opposition to such evil is, by definition, good.

So there again is the unintended consequence, the silver lining. If not for the deplorable actions of evil people, we would not have had the beauty and joy of the response to those actions. Give and take, push and pull, yin and yang. So am I thankful for Antonin Scalia and the Westborough Baptist Church? Almost.