This was originally posted by a novelist with whom I’m friends on Facebook. I found it so powerful I asked if I could share with full attribution. This person requested I post it anonymously, which is poignant to me. I believe in words being attributed to their authors, but of course I respect the desire for privacy more. These words should be seen by as many people as possible.
To the nice racists, the respectable bigots who pack your children’s lunches and volunteer in their classrooms and wave at your neighbors and “just wanted something different” and who just liked it here better before: I see you.
To the men and women alike who “think they’re both pretty bad,” who wonder why women didn’t report it at the time, who yesterday told my daughter resoundingly clearly that a man can violate her and then be voted her president: I see you.
To the so-called Christian leaders who sold out our gospel to gain the very smallest of earthly treasures: I see you. To those who disobeyed the call to love the foreigner and the widow and the least among us, to those who tarnished the name of our God to deny his children’s humanity: I see you.
To the sick who fear for their lives and their healthcare: I see you.
To the ones who never believed us, who “don’t see color,” but who are listening now, and ready to help: I see you.
To the ones who will never believe us: I see you too.
To the teachers who got up today and stayed strong and provided a safe space and a sense of security: I see you. To the parents who had to usher their precious ones into a suddenly diminished and more dangerous world: I see you.
To the ones who are still shellshocked and still grieving and still enraged: I see you.
To the ones who could barely make it through today but had no choice: I see you.
To those who woke up once again today in defiance of a world you didn’t think you could live in, whose very existence each new day is a radical act of survival: I see you.
To the ones who are mobilizing, who are reaching deep inside for a better future, who will not let this destroy us: I see you.
To the broken and battered who are giving up, or who gave up long ago: I see you too.
But most of all, to the undocumented, to the immigrant, to the disabled, to the black and brown, to those who wear their faith on their bodies, to the queer, to the little girls watching us now, to the survivors: I see you. I see you. I see you.
