To You, Who Thought America Was Different

(I posted this on Facebook, so I wanted to share it here as well.)

I’ve actually held back on saying something in a conversation I jumped into a couple of days ago. A friend of a friend, upon seeing the posts of white racists/supremacists, said the following:




“This just isn't what America is.. the violence from both sides needs to stop.. the beating of the people needs to stop.. this has just got out of hand.. yes I voted Trump but because I voted him. Doesn't mean I agree with what the other Trump people are doing.. this all has went to far. And if it keeps going on there will be no coming back from it.. we all really need to start praying because this is just the beginning.”

Two or three thoughts on that, but I just turned off notifications for the post so I could move on. But again: two or three thoughts. 1) She doesn’t have black or brown friends. She can’t possibly. 1b or 2) If she does, she unfollowed them the moment they started yelling “Black lives matter” because to her all lives do, and she doesn’t get why they’re singling out just black lives. 3) She had no need to listen to any minority’s accounts of racism or discrimination and feels any talk about it is divisive.

So to her, America has been sunshine and moonbeams, and seeing all these racist whites now attacking minorities after her candidate won the Electoral Vote, she doesn’t get it. It’s not America to her.

Okay, so just in case, here’s what America is:

America was landed upon by white settlers escaping religious persecution (the US portion, but lets not forget the white Spaniards landing further south and spreading murder and disease to the “Indians”). Upon landing here, they immediately pushed out and/or killed the people already inhabiting the land and claimed it as their own. They brought/bought/or kidnapped Africans to settle the land and take care of their children, marking them as 2/3 of a person and property. They also pushed the Mexican people from their land to the west and drew a line that said, “This is now America.” Then, when people finally decided, maybe it’s time to not have slaves anymore, half of the country tried to pull a Brexit so they could keep enslaving black people. And then propaganda articles demeaning black people popped up, and Jim Crow laws, and the Ku Klux Klan were born, and black men being hanged for a white woman saying they whistled at her, the death of Black Wall Street, and whites only clubs, restaurants, bathrooms, water fountains, pools, white people attacking black men and women who dared sit at the counter at their diners, firemen hosing black people with full power fire hoses, police dogs attacking, black children in integrated schools being yelled at by white adults, church bombings, churches being set on fire, and police brutality, and more police brutality, and a white boy walking into a Bible Study of a historically black church and shooting the churchgoers, and there’s so much more.

And you voted for Trump because--with all his plans to build a wall, and saying illegal immigrants are rapists, and Muslims need to be registered or thrown out, that black people have horrible schools, neighborhoods, and don’t have jobs, so what do they have to lose in voting for him--somehow you thought America wasn’t going to show itself for what it really was no matter the outcome? You somehow think people are going to be able to come together after your candidate just threatened to tear us apart? And did you feel these same people, who are now attacking minorities not ONE day after Trump became president-elect, weren’t the same people calling President Obama the n-word and a Muslim, and making dolls and pictures about hanging him, and that they should have come together with the rest of the country? Were you saying “Come together” 8 years ago? Because I don’t see anyone who would vote for Trump would have if they had believed in President Obama.

But good luck to you in thinking your candidate can bring us together.

Tuesday Tales: Brodie Explains Governments

Good morning.

I am here today to tell you a little about the governments on Teorre. As you may be aware already, we have three living races, and they all have different governmental systems. I will also divulge the history of the fourth, now defunct, as they are practically extinct.

I'll start with them, actually: the Crystal Bearers. They had the most simple of monarchies. Centuries ago, the people chose the most powerful to rule over them, and leadership was passed down by heir. If the king were to die, the oldest prince or princess became king or queen and so on. If the king had no children, the throne transferred to the next of kin.

The Sprites also have a monarchy, the current king being King Loren, Laris's father. Their system is slightly different than the Bearers' system in that the next heir is simply the next oldest of kin. If King Loren had a younger brother, he would be Prince and Laris Grand Duke. As King Loren had no siblings, Laris is next for the crown, then his brother, Grand Duke Ariel. This may also be why their monarchy is so laid back. There's no real pressure or need to fight over the throne.

The Trollics have an oligarchy and are run by The Council, 70 men and women chosen by their people to oversee the land. 12 of those are the High Council, and they often oversee the other 58. There is often a set time each Council member can sit, often 5 years, unless the people vote them back in for their good works. They can choose to leave at the end of the 5 years as well. Grey, Head of the Council, has been so for three terms now. He is well known for securing peace between Trollics and Sprites after centuries of war by marrying a Sprityn nursemaid.

The Humans and any of the other two races who live on the Life Continent have a slightly similar government but with more leaders based on region. Their leaders have a smaller group of leaders over them, and those have one more smaller group over them. This is called The Parliament. They essentially make the decisions based on the majority votes beneath them, for a 3-tiered system delegated by the people. It is very rare they go against the votes, but if any tier has an objection, there is a long and lengthy process to decide what is best for the continent. They also have a set term: 4 years for up to 3 consecutive terms, but they may also petition to serve again after 2 consecutive terms as a normal citizen or in a lower tier. That may seem confusing, but they must hold a lower seat of power for a time. If they are not elected to a lower tier after their 3 terms, then they return to normal citizenry.

And so, there you have it. I hope this information is useful to you in some way.

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Thanks for the information, Brodie!

Please exercise your right to vote today!