School Board Elections: At the deadline

The deadline for ballots is today at 5:00 PM. Realistically, most people have already voted and turned in their ballots. I will still say it one more time:

For Beaverton School District, please vote for Susan Greenberg, Karen Pérez-Da Silva, Sunita Garg, and either LeeAnn Larsen or Ugonna Enyinnaya.

For Hillsboro School District, please vote for Erika Lopez, Mark Watson, Nancy Thomas, and Jaci Spross.

 

Here are some personal thoughts on this election day.

 

Obviously, I have taken this election to heart. 

 

I would like to think that tomorrow will show that the not aggressively racist candidates won, bringing a sense of relief. That is not really a possibility. 

 

That is not a sense of doom about these specific candidates, because it is so much bigger than two school districts.

 

I know that other nearby school districts also have candidates running on the same platform, but I have not been able to keep track. Another person had posted information for fifteen districts, but it is not clear if they had complete candidates in every district. I also know that there are more districts, and other states, and a level of organization that we do not have.

There are two specific problems there, beyond people who are not actively malicious forgetting to expect it of others.

One is the weakening of the press, where there are fewer resources for local issues, and possibly less interest in covering them. When a Trump booster is traveling to multiple states teaching followers how to win local elections, it goes beyond a local story. Someone still has to notice and track it down and have the support of editors. There are several weak points there, and more than one issue influencing that, though there are some important economic issues. 

I am proud of the writing I did, but my resources are limited, as is my reader base. I would have loved to have been able to link to well-written news articles about what was going on, and that gave a better idea of how far it was spreading. 

The lack of press coverage was not nearly as disappointing as seeing the bigotry be welcomed with open arms by members of my church. Trying to reach out -- even to people I know -- was so ineffective as to be heartbreaking in its scope. What is wrong with my people? Primarily whiteness, insulated by privilege, and fragile to cracks in their insulation.

I mean, I do know the answer, but I hate it. 

 

Hopes for this election needed to reside not in appealing to the kindness and goodness of those who claim to follow Christ, but in hoping that other people can be mobilized to protect queer kids. I will be horrified if that did not work out, but even if the election goes better than expected, the disappointment in church members has cut deep.

There is some satisfaction in feeling like I did what I could. I have acted with integrity and been true to my values. 

 

I clearly need to be better connected if I want to really do good. At this transitional point in my life, that requires some thought. 

 

Moving forward, for well-meaning white liberals, we need to do better. We need to be more organized. We need to deal with our own racism, and make looking at systemic and structural racism a normal part of conversation. (Critical Race Theory can help with that, which is why they hate it so much. Don't forget.)

 

We may all need to spend the next few years fighting school boards, and bringing in state and federal government and the ACLU if necessary. 

 

Those are things that can be done. You can fight elected officials if you need to, but it is so much better to at least have elected those who intend to do good. There are enough obstacles with budgets and habits getting in the way. 

We don't need recidivists.