I really needed exactly these thoughts and this analysis this week. I haven’t been able to read or watch or listen to mainstream journalism for a long time for exactly these reasons, except for my local paper.
I don’t think I could have attended that meeting. Reading about it was bad enough. I’ve interacted with enough people with those fixed mindsets here that … well, you come to realize that there is no “in” with them, no reasoning, no compromise or even dialogue. You just have to defeat them. Which means exactly what you said—people who think of themselves as liberal/progressive/whatever need to stop relaxing.
I noticed that a Missoula school board member was at that Arntzen meeting encouraging violence against superintendents who mandate masks in schools. A friend of mine told me that someone who they’re fairly sure was a hardline Trump supporter got on the Missoula school board in the spring because they ran unopposed. I’m guessing it’s the same person. White people who say they care need to start giving more energy and attention to local issues and elections.
He was appointed, and represents a smaller elementary school district within the high school district, so it's not that surprising that no other candidates applied to fill the vacancy. (I live in that elementary district and I think Chris does too so we'll be able to vote for someone else when it comes around.)
I looked at a district map and I'm right on the edge of Frenchtown school district and Missoula. I couldn't even tell for sure, though a Frenchtown bus picks kids up just around the corner.
Oops, so you are. (The county elections office has an interactive map, and you just put in your address.) You get to vote on the Trumpers from Frenchtown rather than the Trumper from Hellgate, then.
The challenge of writing memoir that honors the personal story while *also* turning it outward is the struggle I've been waging with my book (that and having to live through it enough to have some perspective). How does this personal thing that happened, the cultural forces that got us into that cul-de-sac, and the actions I took to get out, open a space where we can explore what it means to live in this world, what it might mean to live differently in this world?
Yes to all of this. Both side-ism is, I think, largely about keeping the status quo and avoiding “uncomfortable” conversations—though, of course if you look at which conversations people call “both sides!” on, and whose comfort they’re concerned for, it’s pretty clear they long ago chose a side for themselves and it’s admitting it to themselves and others that they’re working to avoid.
Thank you as always for your words, Chris. I look forward to them every Sunday.
Seems to me that Justice must truly be blind and that is why it can't tell that one side of the scale holds substantive truth and the other side of the scale is redigested horse shit.
I told some unruly 4th graders the other day that my dream writing office would be next to a tack room at the back of a stable. One of the kids blurted out, "You must like the smell of horse poop!" I don't know if this response is relevant to your comment or not but it's the first thing I thought of.
This packs in much. As a Southern woman, I was raised to keep quiet, certainly don't discuss the ugly, the truth. Hence, family has erased me from their narrative. Do I want to know more about my family, I don't know. I found my grandfather had a black man committed to the insane asylum for trying to be admitted to the University of Mississippi (two years before James Meredith was admitted) I do want to know more about the man he had committed, who later was a college professional and ran for the president of the United States.
I lean towards the truth. Just a plug for a press in Mississippi that is striving for it, not easy in good ole boy, white Christian area, Mississippi Free Press.
omfg YES. "Women are not rewarded for the truth-telling of their experiences. Much like the witch’s ‘confession,’ the truth-telling women first labeled as confessional poets were punished or excluded from what was considered ‘high verse,’ or literature. "
So, yeah, I feel this -- as a woman, a poet, a journalist, a descendant of colonists and so on.
Coincidentally, to your post as well as the Freya Rohn piece, I have been researching both my family history (hello, lots and lots of forgotten women, listed as "Consort" in the graveyard, etc.), in the colonial era, when witches roamed the highways and byways. I am writing my new novel (using NaNoWriMo as a means of forcing me to write it) and witchcraft/misogyny comes into play. The ugly thing about family trees is finding the ancestors you know were demons. My mother's entire paternal line were slaveholders. I hold my nose and dig in, to see who I can rescue from under their thumbs.
As a journalist I understand the "both sides" issue, as we were taught to allow the other side to give their position to show fairness. But as a journo, you're supposed to see where the issue is and let that side be the main side. The other side then gets this line, usually, "Mr X did not return our calls." So much to answer for. I don't think the current crop of journalists are getting the same education I got, and I think the ones my age got high on the Internet and forgot what they learned.
I appreciate that you brought this to the plate this morning. See you Tuesday :)
First may I express the FACT that what has historically been perpetrated upon the indigenous people of the United States by the government is an abomination and the effects are long lasting and far reaching. I admit my ignorance to you and will tell you that I knew very little of this until I took a race relations course in college almost 50 years ago. My opinion is that this FACT requires total illumination. God Bless The Truth Tellers.
I have never known too much about my Dad’s family. They were always pleasant but mostly kept their distance. The most I really saw of them was at my Dad’s funeral when I was 12 years old. My Grandfather was German. My Mother’s parents were Czechs. As a child I remember that there was some buzz about my Dad’s family being a bit unhappy with regard to the ethnicity of his bride.
Going forward, I married an Italian, my sister married a Nigerian, one cousin married a Chinese, and another, a Japanese. As a clergyman once remarked, as he surveyed the assemblage at a family christening, “This looks like a convention of the United Nations!” My present significant other is the father of two children whose mother was a member of the Choctaw Apache Tribe of western Louisiana.
I believe that the best of each and every culture should be honored and celebrated. I know from personal experience that all of us can get along. I also know that without equal justice and truth the future is imperiled.
May The Light prevail.
Chris, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your beautiful words. Your work is appreciated.
Thank you so much Chris for reading and being in conversation with my words, it means so much. And I so appreciate this piece--the days of erasure MUST be over.
Ohhh the effing Crosspoint. I've almost gone there, too, to attend their "marriage counseling" with my wife and just see what happens. But ultimately come to the same conclusion that you did - the only result would be to make me mad.
I really needed exactly these thoughts and this analysis this week. I haven’t been able to read or watch or listen to mainstream journalism for a long time for exactly these reasons, except for my local paper.
I don’t think I could have attended that meeting. Reading about it was bad enough. I’ve interacted with enough people with those fixed mindsets here that … well, you come to realize that there is no “in” with them, no reasoning, no compromise or even dialogue. You just have to defeat them. Which means exactly what you said—people who think of themselves as liberal/progressive/whatever need to stop relaxing.
I noticed that a Missoula school board member was at that Arntzen meeting encouraging violence against superintendents who mandate masks in schools. A friend of mine told me that someone who they’re fairly sure was a hardline Trump supporter got on the Missoula school board in the spring because they ran unopposed. I’m guessing it’s the same person. White people who say they care need to start giving more energy and attention to local issues and elections.
He was appointed, and represents a smaller elementary school district within the high school district, so it's not that surprising that no other candidates applied to fill the vacancy. (I live in that elementary district and I think Chris does too so we'll be able to vote for someone else when it comes around.)
I looked at a district map and I'm right on the edge of Frenchtown school district and Missoula. I couldn't even tell for sure, though a Frenchtown bus picks kids up just around the corner.
Oops, so you are. (The county elections office has an interactive map, and you just put in your address.) You get to vote on the Trumpers from Frenchtown rather than the Trumper from Hellgate, then.
Frenchtown is awful anymore.
That!s good to know. These positions matter!
The challenge of writing memoir that honors the personal story while *also* turning it outward is the struggle I've been waging with my book (that and having to live through it enough to have some perspective). How does this personal thing that happened, the cultural forces that got us into that cul-de-sac, and the actions I took to get out, open a space where we can explore what it means to live in this world, what it might mean to live differently in this world?
Perfectly stated, Charlotte, yes.
Yes to all of this. Both side-ism is, I think, largely about keeping the status quo and avoiding “uncomfortable” conversations—though, of course if you look at which conversations people call “both sides!” on, and whose comfort they’re concerned for, it’s pretty clear they long ago chose a side for themselves and it’s admitting it to themselves and others that they’re working to avoid.
Thank you as always for your words, Chris. I look forward to them every Sunday.
Thank you, Anni. I love hearing from you!
Seems to me that Justice must truly be blind and that is why it can't tell that one side of the scale holds substantive truth and the other side of the scale is redigested horse shit.
I told some unruly 4th graders the other day that my dream writing office would be next to a tack room at the back of a stable. One of the kids blurted out, "You must like the smell of horse poop!" I don't know if this response is relevant to your comment or not but it's the first thing I thought of.
I have a horse you can borrow...
If you build it [a barn] I will move in.
Not the worst way to have something I said remind you of horse turds, to be honest.
Both sides-isms have been frustrating my mind recently too. I feel like it's the journalist equivalent of "all lives matter".
Also I love your beaver tshirt.
Clare, I love it too. It also looks a lot like my relentlessly angry chihuahua.
That's a great way to put it, yes.
This packs in much. As a Southern woman, I was raised to keep quiet, certainly don't discuss the ugly, the truth. Hence, family has erased me from their narrative. Do I want to know more about my family, I don't know. I found my grandfather had a black man committed to the insane asylum for trying to be admitted to the University of Mississippi (two years before James Meredith was admitted) I do want to know more about the man he had committed, who later was a college professional and ran for the president of the United States.
I lean towards the truth. Just a plug for a press in Mississippi that is striving for it, not easy in good ole boy, white Christian area, Mississippi Free Press.
Thank you for your words.
Family history is hard. Families are hard.
omfg YES. "Women are not rewarded for the truth-telling of their experiences. Much like the witch’s ‘confession,’ the truth-telling women first labeled as confessional poets were punished or excluded from what was considered ‘high verse,’ or literature. "
So, yeah, I feel this -- as a woman, a poet, a journalist, a descendant of colonists and so on.
Coincidentally, to your post as well as the Freya Rohn piece, I have been researching both my family history (hello, lots and lots of forgotten women, listed as "Consort" in the graveyard, etc.), in the colonial era, when witches roamed the highways and byways. I am writing my new novel (using NaNoWriMo as a means of forcing me to write it) and witchcraft/misogyny comes into play. The ugly thing about family trees is finding the ancestors you know were demons. My mother's entire paternal line were slaveholders. I hold my nose and dig in, to see who I can rescue from under their thumbs.
As a journalist I understand the "both sides" issue, as we were taught to allow the other side to give their position to show fairness. But as a journo, you're supposed to see where the issue is and let that side be the main side. The other side then gets this line, usually, "Mr X did not return our calls." So much to answer for. I don't think the current crop of journalists are getting the same education I got, and I think the ones my age got high on the Internet and forgot what they learned.
I appreciate that you brought this to the plate this morning. See you Tuesday :)
Thanks, Julia. I don't have to go too far back on my dad's side of the family to see a man's name wedded to "Indian woman."
Hi Chris,
First may I express the FACT that what has historically been perpetrated upon the indigenous people of the United States by the government is an abomination and the effects are long lasting and far reaching. I admit my ignorance to you and will tell you that I knew very little of this until I took a race relations course in college almost 50 years ago. My opinion is that this FACT requires total illumination. God Bless The Truth Tellers.
I have never known too much about my Dad’s family. They were always pleasant but mostly kept their distance. The most I really saw of them was at my Dad’s funeral when I was 12 years old. My Grandfather was German. My Mother’s parents were Czechs. As a child I remember that there was some buzz about my Dad’s family being a bit unhappy with regard to the ethnicity of his bride.
Going forward, I married an Italian, my sister married a Nigerian, one cousin married a Chinese, and another, a Japanese. As a clergyman once remarked, as he surveyed the assemblage at a family christening, “This looks like a convention of the United Nations!” My present significant other is the father of two children whose mother was a member of the Choctaw Apache Tribe of western Louisiana.
I believe that the best of each and every culture should be honored and celebrated. I know from personal experience that all of us can get along. I also know that without equal justice and truth the future is imperiled.
May The Light prevail.
Chris, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your beautiful words. Your work is appreciated.
Sincerely, Melissa
Melissa, thank you for this. My mom's people are Czechs too.
Thank you so much Chris for reading and being in conversation with my words, it means so much. And I so appreciate this piece--the days of erasure MUST be over.
Ohhh the effing Crosspoint. I've almost gone there, too, to attend their "marriage counseling" with my wife and just see what happens. But ultimately come to the same conclusion that you did - the only result would be to make me mad.
I get pissed off just driving by that place.
Thank you so much for reading and considering my words. But also for this essential message. "The days of silence are over."
Thank you, Lyz!