{"id":537,"date":"2021-04-15T19:43:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T19:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.illinoisstate.edu\/euphemism\/16-2\/?page_id=537"},"modified":"2021-05-02T12:09:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T12:09:16","slug":"draw-the-line","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/draw-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Draw the line"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
Jamie Hand<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If we were to draw a line<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

(a timeline, we might call it)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

from January 6, 2021 to the beginning<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

how far back would we go?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To the fraudulent claims of fraud<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

for sure.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But keep going<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

to \u201cproud boys: stand back and stand by.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Nevertheless, the line persists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It points toward Charlottesville<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cunite the right\u201d and<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cboth sides.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Because on what exactly<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

were we uniting?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Surely that\u2019s where the line began?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

No.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If we\u2019re being honest<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

(and we should try)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

our line points to each claim of<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cnot my president.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Denying it didn\u2019t make it go away.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And he was.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Let us pick up our pencil again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The line must point out \u201cMexico sends\u2026rapists.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

White virginity has always helped birth<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

a nation of racists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Our hands grow tired<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

our pencils grow dull.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But we must construct a complete line,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

and connect the travel ban that both was and wasn\u2019t a ban.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We are picking up speed now,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

friends, historians, line drawers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

All the way to the tweeting birthers<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

who birthed an \u201calternative\u201d patriotism.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As we feel we approach the beginning of the line, does it end?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

(Please, please let it end.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

No, this is where it connects to all the other lines.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Central Park 5<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

David Duke<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jeff Sessions<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Our lines are one and the same.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The problem is<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

we are just drawing the line now.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Many of us had power and influence all along.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We could have<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Drawn<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Line<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The first time it was crossed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And we didn\u2019t.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We crossed the line together,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

over and over<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

trading white supremacy<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

for Supreme Court seats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We frantically erased the line<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

at each of these moments<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

and we redrew it<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

in our own self interest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

(\u201cJust a little further,\u201d we said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cUnprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cTroubling.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

we said.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And our nation suffered<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

each time we pushed the line,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

trading decency<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

for a distorted version of democracy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And, unforgivably,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

we ignored the suffering of the least among us.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Poised over partisan paperwork \u2013<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

protecting our own privileges \u2013<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

when people asked to see the line, we blew our eraser dust in their faces<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

and shouted \u201cwhat about that other line!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We took the line and pushed it back<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

even when there was nowhere left to push it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Our nation is split.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The line divides us.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There is no clean timeline from January 6, 2021<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

to the beginning of hate.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Only a dirty, complicated one<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

that we are all complicit in.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Even if we never donned a red hat<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

or flew a blue flag.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We allowed a Monster<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

to cross the line on our behalf \u2013 over and over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

History<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

is a sticky web of intersecting timelines.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As we trace them, erase them, misplace them,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

we write our stories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Though we are shattered,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

burned,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

and splintered,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

the present will soon become the past.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The drawers of future timelines are watching us now.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What history will we leave<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

for them to write?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How will we right our story?<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamie Hand   If we were to draw a line (a timeline, we might call it) from January 6, 2021 to the beginning how far back would we go?   To the fraudulent claims of fraud for sure. But keep going to \u201cproud boys: stand back and stand by.\u201d   Nevertheless, the line persists. It… Continue Reading Draw the line<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-537","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1014,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/537\/revisions\/1014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/16-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}