Today, students at First Coast High School here in Jacksonville walked in to find these signs taped up over their water fountains. It’s unclear whether this was a racist outburst passing for a prank or a political protest in the wake of Tuesday’s election. Either way, it’s an image that strikes deep and revisits old injustice.

I grew up in Memphis, TN, and the lingering evidence of this sort of racism was everywhere. I grew up hearing Martin Luther King Day called “James Earl Ray Appreciation Day.” I grew up being told that Nelson Mandela must be bad because he had been in prison, and only bad people go to prison, right?

I was in college before I first heard the phrase “driving while black.” I was in div school before I started hearing about white people crossing the street to avoid my black classmates if it was late at night. And then Trayvon Martin happened. What a terrible isolated incident, right? Why are my black friends so upset by this one-time deal? (Isn’t obliviousness nice?)

Then it was Eric Garner,
John Crawford,
Michael Brown,
Sandra Bland,
Tamir Rice,
Philando Castile,
Alton Sterling,
you want me to keep going? Because I can. This list could easily go on for pages. The killing of unarmed people of color has been a problem for decades. The difference is that the majority of Americans now carry cameras with instant internet access, so it can’t be ignored anymore.And then we got this election.
The president-elect of the United States had people of color ejected from his rallies. His supporters openly used racist rhetoric. He was endorsed by the KKK, with David Duke himself tweeting happily about the results.
And in the midst of this, many of us looked on in shock because our elementary school teachers had done such a good job of convincing us that racism was over. Surely, 47% of Americans wouldn’t vote for a man who talks like this and acts like this and encourages this sort of behavior, right? Surely his hateful rhetoric would outweigh the people’s distrust of the other candidate, right? This election was a wakeup call for many: these issues are not behind us, they cannot be ignored, and they must be discussed. (And I swear that hyperlink isn’t the Coke video again. It’s a great article by Courtney Parker West; please read it.)

That being said, I’m writing this as a straight, white, Protestant male. It’s easy for me to call for conversation and reconciliation because I’m not actively afraid for my safety. The police and TSA are never suspicious of me. No one dismisses my arguments because they think I’m “angry.” No one comments on my wardrobe selection at debates or thinks I should smile more. And when people dislike me, it’s almost always because of my opinions, not my anatomy. Because of all this, it’s my responsibility to shut up and listen to those who have experienced such prejudice. They’re the ones who need support right now, and it’s not because the country magically went back to being racist and sexist and xenophobic this year; it’s because those feelings never really went away in the first place. (And no, that link is not the Coke video again. It’s a great article by David Wong; please read it.)

On the policy side of things, I’m actually not that worried. I was one of those disenfranchised millennials who voted for Obama back in 2008 and then was surprised when “change we can believe in” took way longer than expected. I have great faith in the ineffectiveness of our federal government. The upheaval in both major parties will completely neuter the Trump executive branch, and he’ll be back to building casinos in no time. I actually feel kind of bad for him because of the no-win scenario he’s walking into:
If he goes in a more collaborative direction, the people who elected him will abandon him in 2020 in favor of someone more radical (like how the Tea Party is abandoning Paul Ryan). If he maintains his blustery persona, Washington and foreign governments won’t take him seriously and won’t work with him. President-elect Trump is stuck. (Also, those links aren’t the Coke video again. They’re a Liturgists podcast, a piece by Brad Delong, and a video essay by CGP Grey; please check them out.)

In the meantime, here’s what we should worry about: this election has shaken a lot of people. It’s opened some eyes to how real the racism and sexism in our culture are, and the one common trait seems to be this: everyone feels ignored. Setting aside the inflammatory rhetoric, the real key to Trump’s success was reaching white Evangelicals (whatever that word means now) who felt ignored by politicians and saw a Clinton presidency as more of the same. By contrast, the Clinton campaign targeted women, people of color, disabled Americans, immigrants– in general, people who have been ignored and mocked for too long and saw Trump’s rhetoric as more of the same. Whether all these people really are ignored or not, it seems like every American feels that they are, and that is affecting how we talk —or don’t talk— to each other.
This isn’t a problem we can fix overnight,
but it’s one that we can chip away at every day.
And we must talk about it and pray about it and work on it
because no student should have to walk into their school
and see those signs hanging over their water fountains.

Update:
I’ve seen the language of “hoax” and “prank” regarding this story. For the record, it’s tough to tell whether the placement of these signs is an act of racism or a commentary on racism. Either way, someone is trying to make their feelings known.