Robert DuSold

Yes, yes. I do. I support my Jewish friends and my gay friends and my trans friends and Muslim friends and my black friends and my Asian friends and Hispanic friends and my female friends and my male friends and my straight friends and my white friends and my cisgender friends and gender fluid friends and… oh shit, I’m sure I’ve offended someone by omission. Or offended someone by saying I support straight white men.

I need to sit down with a glass of water… there’s a whole lot of peeps to support up there.

Ok, I’m back.

On the sosh, we are tasked with a whole lot of not only people to support, but memes and banners and shiz to show our support.

We better fucking hurry too… I gotta crop my profile pic!

Put it out there. Show your support. Solidarity people!

Conversely… or maybe Adidasly, we also have to fucking speak out against the haters and the villains and ….boycott fuckers!

And hurry up for Crissake!

Right there, right there is where most of us stumble. Many times, we make things worse or muddy the waters in our rush to judgment and anoint our 60 second villain and hero so we can free our index finger for the next big thing.

Which may be grabbing a sandwich.

We look for the black and white… and yes I mean that literally…

Stories are never that simple.

They are never that simple.

They are…

A couple of years ago I guess.. I’m not sure really.. I read a story about this fairly unknown African American actor in Chicago who said he was attacked by two men who put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him while they taunted him with racial and homophobic epithets.

It happened in downtown Chicago in the dead of winter… no witnesses.

Oh my God.. I was incensed. The sosh blew up and everyone from the Obamas to major celebrities spoke out against the hate with me… I belonged to that righteous club of slaying the dragon on the inter webs.

The next day, I had a weird feeling that something was very wrong with his story. I had questions about how it happened.. where it happened.. I knew that neighborhood because I had lived there.

His story seemed to tick off every box of liberal angst, and it was sorta too perfect really.

But, I had already slayed the dragon.. could I pull the sword out?

Yes. So, I did.. in hopes of supporting real stories of oppression and hate.

I said I thought it may well be a hoax.. much to the consternation of many of my comradesinsosh.. some who wanted to kick me out of the army.

I got a lot of shit for speaking out, but I thought the truth was a better option.

But, initially I added to the smoke.

I regret that. I do. I pledged from then on to dig a little deeper and try, as hard as it is for me, to temper my outrage.

Unfortunately, that rush to judgment is now embedded in our daily lives through governing bodies, unions and organizations whose very existence financially depends on the webetterhurrythefuckup.

Here is the truth.

The truth is in the dizzying quest to support every striation of marginalized communities, we inevitably step on another.

The part I struggle with is whether it’s purposeful.

The other thing I struggle with is speaking out in the first place, especially when the tide is in my face and starting to drag me under.

But, the older I get, a few more of these cards show up in my stash that help:

I have no fucks left to give

I will give you one if you want… they’re free.

The villain club seems to be filling up lately with Jewish people.

All of this brings me to the idyllic Brigadoon that I live in.. Maplewood NJ:

Last year.. I guess.. weird how these stories sort of defy time… a teacher at an elementary school out here was accused of ripping a little girl’s hijab off and saying “.. you have such pretty hair, why don’t you show it?”

A second grade kid accused the teacher.

As fate would have it, I’ve directed the little angels in their school musicals a few times there.

Anyway, they are great kids and the school is extremely progressive… almost too much in my opinion.

Well, the dragon slayers went after this teacher in record hurrythefuckup… she was doxxed by Ibtihaj Muhammad, a famous fencer from Maplewood, who revealed her name and address and spoke of all the harm this teacher did.

This Jewish teacher/Muslim child.

The school board immediately put her on leave and released a statement about anti-Muslim hate.

Local synagogues spoke out against the teacher.

She got the ushz death threats.. which are I guess expected… and had to leave her home.

She never came back.

Meanwhile, I had that Jussie Smollett feeling.. something didn’t seem right… so I started speaking out while the water was up to my nose.

The mother of this child started a GoFund Me.. and started a Facebook Live event to raise money..

Her child is blameless in this.. but she was so excited to get the ❤️s and 👍🏼s and donations.

The comment section had several, vile anti-Semitic posts that I will not share.

All of this occurred while the blood was still fresh in the water and no one, not one person had a fucking clue what the truth was.

But, we sure needed our 60 second villain and hero.. and by God the School Board, Ms.Muhammad and a host of others were gonna deliver that in a tightly wrapped hurrythefuckup beautiful package of sosh.

It ruined this career teacher’s life here in our little town over the rainbow. She’s suing several parties involved. I think she should.

So, my way of supporting my Jewish friends.. and every single friend in this world is trying, at least, to approach stories with caution. And look for nuance, and try not to rush to judgement so I can find the gray.

My hope is that the time will come for people to try in a way to identify as…

People.

I know, that’s probably a bullshitty thing to want.

I can hope though, because I do believe that will help with the isms, and the ias and the ics.. much more than a meme.

And that is my hope, because I feel like we are so full circle it’s like that ride I threw up on when I was a kid where it spins so hard that it sticks you against the wall with centrifugal force.

Then the floor drops out.

And you’re stuck there.