We have a long way to go

In “What’s Wrong With Being From the South? Just ask an Academic From the North,” Adam Kirk Edgerton, a Ph.D. student in education policy at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses regionalism and how geographical biases have created a divide between Americans in the North and South. 

Towards the end of the article, Edgerton shares a story about a conversation he had with a student after the October 1, 2017,  Route 91 mass shooting in Las Vegas. The student said she didn't feel any sympathy for the victims of the shooting because she assumed that, if they were at a country music festival, they were probably Trump supporters which meant they deserved what happened to them.

This account resonated with me for several reasons. First, having been raised mostly in Las Vegas, I vividly remember the October 1 massacre and how it shook the entire city. After all, it was the largest mass shooting in American history. Second, I can tell you that regardless of where one fell on the political spectrum, we were all devastated about what happened.

I remember when my neighbor appeared a month or so after the shooting and told us that she had been shot while attending the concert and was later hospitalized due to complications resulting from her injuries. Although she admittedly identifies as a Republican, I never once thought her views made her injuries justifiable simply because her views differed from my own. 

And to be clear, though I do not condone the rhetoric and societal harm often perpetuated by those who support Trump, I don’t think that it is fair or proper to essentially write off an entire region on the basis of a presumed political belief. 

I say this because, in doing so, we essentially write off marginalized groups existing within those regions who are just as deserving of advocacy and resources as those in the North, West, and East. For example, I remember when the news broke that Roe v. Wade had been overturned. I was at work, and someone in the office stated that they weren’t concerned because we live on the West Coast and that Roe basically is only an issue “for the red states.” 

This comment surprised me because, while many of us on the West Coast will likely not be impacted by the decision, millions of Black and Brown women in the South have been--and will be continue to be--disproportionately impacted by the decision. If we do not recognize this disparity, how will we be any better than the folks we say we don’t want to be?

I think the same holds true when we discuss anti-racism. Whereas it is not enough to be complacent, we must be active in our efforts against racism. And just as we must be active in our efforts against racism, we should be active in supporting marginalized folks in all regions of the country, not solely on those in the places we deem most deserving of our activism.

In fact, I think if we reflect on how marginalized groups are treated even on the West Coast, we will realize that we, too, have a long way to go. Just this month, members of the Los Angeles City Council were exposed for attempting to dilute the Black vote in the council district and comparing the Black child of a fellow council member to a monkey. 

In this case, we are talking about one of the most diverse and so-called ideologically progressive cities in California, which is highly progressive in its entirety. Even in that context, racism and bigotry are disgustingly pervasive.

Edgerton's article also reminded me of when I was first admitted to King Hall and a fellow Black student who was a 3L at the time (who happened to be from the rural South) expressed that the racism he experienced in Davis wasn’t very different than what he experienced as a Black man in the South. He said that was just a bit more subtle in Davis, but that subtlety did not diminish the harm it caused or the impact it had on his experience. 

With all of this in mind, I think it is important that we as a society focus on trying to be better as a whole. This requires us to actively work towards progress for our entire country rather than falling susceptible to performative progressivism by picking and choosing who and where we dedicate our efforts.