Can't You See Him?

What’s next, reinstatement of the Fugitive Slave Act?  This is the question my brother asked incredulously when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act last week.  Of course, I wish I could say that he was joking, but honestly, he wasn’t.  His question pinpoints the reality that even though the Supreme Court, during the same week, sensibly ruled the Defense of Marriage Act  (DOMA) to be unconstitutional, there are those who remain determined to continue setting limits on our quality of life. 

My niece, who just finished a session of student teaching, witnessed an elementary  school teacher praise and  hand out doughnuts to the children who did well on their standardized testing; none for those who didn’t do so well . . .  My nephew had an eye appointment recently and was told he’s in the early stages of glaucoma, a disease which, if left uncontrolled, causes blindness. My nephew has no medical insurance; a 30-day supply of his eye drop medication costs $200 . . .  The U.S. imprisons more people – and more people of color – than  any other country in the world.^1,2. . . Last week President Obama reassured us that the NSA isn’t actually listening to our phone calls – they’re simply monitoring when, and to whom, and for how long, we talk. 

There he is!  Can’t you see him?  He’s a huge gray elephant with yellowing tusks and big floppy ears, and when he bellows, my palms don’t protect my ears from the blaring sound.  Can’t you see him?  His name is Calamity.  I often hear folks complain about him – how disgusting, expensive, insensitive, and dangerous he is.  I join in and we talk as though he exists in some faraway place like Mars . . .  but now I can see him everywhere I turn – in my dining room, and my bathroom, and in my public library  down the street.  He muscled his way through airport security and managed  to get on my fully-booked flight to New York a few weeks back.  He’s in the exam room at my doctor’s office, and whenever I go to the pharmacy, he’s right there, standing in line.

We refuse to see this elephant named Calamity in our every space, and until we do, he will continue to have his way with us.  Only when we acknowledge his intimate presence and call him by name will we be able to figure out how to make him go away.  If we fail to do these things, one day sooner than we think, this mighty elephant will raise his huge body on his powerful hind legs, cry out triumphantly, and then trample us!

Written by Dianne Durham

¹ As reported on the International Centre for Prison Studies website, http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate

² Alexander. M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press.  (Page 8).