So I almost punched out an elderly person in a supermarket today.
Granted, none of you know who I am, but I’m not a violent criminal with a checkered past. I’m a (mostly) skinny, awkward nerdy black girl from Georgia who, through a series of unfortunate events, came to live in central Florida for going on five years. Nevertheless, I was going along my merry way grocery shopping when an old white man walked past me wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. I didn’t realize how utterly furious I’ve been under the surface until that man walked into my line of sight and my entire body from head to toe started shaking, and my adrenaline started pumping, and my brain whispered, “Punch his goddamn lights out. Lay him out, right here, right now. He deserves it.”
I did not, however, deck the ever-loving crap out of an old man today.
And that’s what we’re here to discuss.
We all know the obvious reasons why I didn’t do it. (1) Don’t want to be arrested and sent to jail and deal with a lengthy trial on assault charges, especially not in a state that gives Texas a run for its money in terms of open bigotry (2) It would have just proven that old man’s messed up beliefs right, that black people, and people of color in general, are violent, ignorant criminals who are hot-headed and reckless and attack people unprovoked. (3) That’s not a punishment severe enough for this man’s crime.
Because, in the end, while the narrative of this story has switched into a dystopian future that is so reminiscent of V for Vendetta that I’m waiting for them to change the flag to black and red, we are only at the climax. The ending? Oh, the ending is what I’d like to discuss today.
After the utter fury rushed out of me when I left Publix, I quite suddenly started smiling to myself. Do you know why? Not because our current situation in this country is funny. It ain’t, trust me. After the anger passed and I could see something other than red, I realized that I am in fact getting the last laugh.
You, old man, are going to die, and soon. You’ll probably die painfully, as many of your organs are failing, and you’ll be taken to a hospital, and if you are one of the incredibly ignorant morons who are on the Affordable Healthcare Act that the GOP is trying to repeal and yet you somehow don’t realize it’s Obamacare, you’ll probably get a taste of your own medicine while you’re shuffling your moldy ass off this mortal coil and into the flames of Hell.
And that’s not even the best part.
You know your grandchildren? Those children that you voted for Tangerine Hitler in order to “protect” from the “villains” you think are out there in “your” country right now? Guess what? When they grow up, they’re going to be surrounded by beautiful brown faces of all types. Not only that, but they are going to fall in love with a person of color. They’re going to have their entire world rocked by a person of color. Hell, they might be in a same-sex relationship with one, and that’s even better. Still not the best part. Are you ready for the best part?
You’ll be dead, and you can do nothing about it.
All your hatred, all your bigotry, all your ignorance, all your pathetic attempts to stop people of color from “taking over” what you and people like you think is yours, will have meant absolutely, positively, nothing in the end.
We aren’t going anywhere. You are. Your entire fake-ass resistance is futile. Trump may have poisoned this country and broken the will of many of its innocent citizens, but in the end, you cannot stop us from living, and living well.
Me? Maybe I don’t have all my ducks in a row, but I am still an educated, gorgeous, independent, kind, helpful, decent human being in spite of all that you’ve done to make me and people like me feel like we have no power and that we’re unwanted second-class citizens. I have a savings account. I have a car. I have a home. I have a family and friends. I have everything I need right now, and I’m not even halfway done with my life. And you? You can’t do jackshit about it, old man.
To that end, to everyone out there who is just as angry as I am, who is filled with disbelief that the selfish monsters in this country have let us all fall to rancor and have shown their yellow bellies after all this time, after all this progress, this is what you need to focus on.
If you’re reading this article…you ARE the resistance.
Fight Trump and his cabinet. Fight Congress. Fight corrupt government officials and lobbyists.
But don’t forget that we get the last laugh.
Live hard. Live well. Don’t let them take away who you are because of their disgusting beliefs. Get your life together and enjoy everything that you can, because that’s how you defeat men like that old bastard in that supermarket. They think we’re savages? Great. Just wait until we’re doctors, saving their old damned souls. Just wait until we’re lawyers defending their sorry asses from a lawsuit. Just wait until we’re colonizing Mars. Just wait until we’re watching the first female or gay/lesbian president. Just wait until this entire country is full of excellence and they can’t do a goddamn thing about it.
Kill ‘em with kindness, friends.
That’s how we win this war.
Stay excellent.
Love,
Kyoko