This week many (privileged) folks hit social media all aghast that Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced under Rule XIX which stipulates that “no Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator” when she tried to read the statement Coretta Scott King submitted to the Senate in 1968 detailing the racist nature of now attorney general Jeff Sessions into the record this Tuesday evening. Of Warren’s silencing Republican Mitch McConnell (now infamously) said “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nonetheless, she persisted.” The outrage grew when not one, not two, not three, but four of her male colleagues were subsequently allowed to read the same letter into the record without being interrupted or silenced. It was as if they knew they would not be. They knew that there would be no warning or explanation forthcoming.The text of the statement reads
Dear Senator Thurmond:
I write to express my sincere opposition to the confirmation of Jefferson B. Sessions as a federal district court judge for the Southern District of Alabama. My professional and personal roots in Alabama are deep and lasting.
Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts.
Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters.
For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.
I regret that a long-standing commitment prevents me from appearing in person to testify against this nominee. However, I have attached a copy of my statement opposing Mr. Sessions’ confirmation and I request that my statement as well as this letter ‘be made a part of the’ hearing record.
I do sincerely urge you to oppose the confirmation of Mr. Sessions.
Sincerely,
Coretta Scott King
Nevertheless, she persisted quickly went viral as a hashtag (and meme topic) for feminist icons and activists seeking to describe their struggles. Persistence is not a new thing. Women and minorities are not new to these warnings, explanations, or silencings. We find ourselves silenced when we seek to speak about our oppression or the oppression of others. We receive numerous explanations in the form of diatribes that begin with the phrase, “Well, actually…” when we try to detail the historical and or systemic nature of said oppression or when we try to connect it to other forms of oppression or to oppression in other communities. But, still we persist. And that persistence becomes even more justified in the days when we watch as a movement of hate that was trained and nurtured in a microcosm comes to power in the highest office of the nation.
It is in these days that we might be best served by turning to those who have persevered for their wisdom and experience. It is in these experiences that we may discern the patterns and the systems of the new regime and have the ammunition that we need to fight (and to ultimately defeat) it. All of the years that have been spent telling women and minorities to just ignore the harassment and threats that they were receiving online, or to just stay offline if they didn’t want to see it and despite having the validity of our research into games and the gaming community questioned (then and now). All of this despite the threats that we have also received offline. The threats to our livelihood via complaints to our employers about our feminism. The threats to our bodies via swattings and doxxings. And in extreme cases, the threats to our families (especially our children) directly.
Through all of this shit we have persisted. We have persisted because we recognized that oppression, hatred, and harassment in any space left unchecked will only flourish. And it is with this knowledge that folks who have spent their time studying the movements and tactics of the alt-right (by whatever name) are coming together (or damn well should be) with other activists to develop a plan, because we are now finding ourselves in a whole new world. With this I call for not only our persistence, but our resistance.
N.B. I use the term “alt-right” here because it is most widely used, but we all know damned well that they are nazis.
