The "It's About Time" Myth. A Note to You So-Called Progressives

I'm kinda tired of hearing some folks for either Clinton or Obama say "it's about time we had a woman candidate." Or "it's about time we had a Black candidate." No it's not. It's not about time. The time, folks, has come & gone & has been past due for many many moons. This country has been overdue for a minority candidate for a long while & by now we should have had a bisexual, transgender, half Asian, half Black, half Dutch, half Jewish, wheelchair using former mental health patient by now. For the love of gawd people stop staying it's about time. No one gives a shit that you think you sound so progressive and tolerant. You don't.

A long time ago I had a recovery sponsor who said "things in this program take a long time." And she was right. In that same vein we can say that things in this country have taken & continue to take a long time. Take for example the Constitution of the United States. It says:
"We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

This statement was created 221 years ago by our founding "fathers" and though it's debatable what those words actually meant & who they were meant for back then, one thing is clear to me: US citizens are meant to be equal and are supplied by their Higher Power fundamental rights that cannot be taken away. So it has taken 221 years to achieve in this country the idea that the statement I just noted might be something that guides our society and leads us all to joy & freedom. The idea folks. That's as far as some of us have gotten. A number of folks aren't even there, but at least a number of folks see how all folks being equal is a good idea and worth happening some day. Yes progress is damn slow. Because an idea is not an action & the fact that the action freedom fighters have had to take just to get the rest of this country on board with the idea of the constitutions words, has at last had some results. Now mainstream liberals feel a minority (white female or Black male) could be equal if not better than the presidents we've had. That's great, but shouldn't our whole country felt that way at least 10 years ago? How about 25 years ago or even a hundred years ago?

Saying it's about time is a shortcut. It gives us the chance to vote for a minority & feel good about that & not have to do much else. It's an easy way to feel good about our ideas without having to admit we still need to take to the streets to ensure all of us have those unalienable rights. Knowing in this country that so many people are still discriminated against for no other reason than that they happen to exist in the body they are in, is something we need to look at, ponder, then change. We can't stop at casting a single vote & smugly feel we've done our duty as good liberals. We have to do more than just have ideas. We have to get busy, we have to fight, we have to communicate, we have to listen and we have to believe in the strength that our creator's have given us and get to work. That's when this country will move past being a great idea to a great place.

So next time you hear someone say "it's about time" ask them what else it's time for. And then challenge them to go do something about it.

Peace!
~F