“European explorers ushered in a wave of devastation, violence, stealing land, and widespread disease.” – Kamala Harris
Unsurprisingly, Kamala Harris posted the above in a tweet on Columbus Day. Seeing statements like this is hurtful, exhausting, and demoralizing. I am sick and tired of being made to feel that my very existence is something that I need to apologize for. I did not choose my skin color. I did not choose my ancestry. I did not chose to be born, and I did not choose which country or continent to be born in. And I don’t deserve to be shamed or humiliated for these characteristics, as Harris has done with this statement.
Perhaps European explorers did usher in those things that Harris claims. But honestly… who cares? What is the point of mentioning this, and what is Harris trying to accomplish by doing so?
European explorers lived multiple centuries ago. Neither they, nor their alleged victims, are alive. I certainly didn’t cause the atrocities listed by Harris (nor did anyone who is alive today); therefore I do not deserve to be punished for them. The only thing accomplished by harping on and on about the alleged atrocities of European explorers is to inflict shame and humiliation on people like me, who didn’t do anything wrong. To inflict suffering and punishment on people who don’t deserve it. It’s disgusting that anyone – let alone a major political party’s candidate for president – would consider this a good thing to do.
Octavian destroyed the lives of Antony and Cleopatra, and the English army burned Joan of Arc alive at the stake. Why do Harris and other Democratic politicians not go on and on about that? Why does our society care so much about the alleged devastation, violence, theft of land, and disease inflicted on indigenous people, but not care a whit about the suffering that I’ve experienced going through life as an autistic person being held to neurotypical standards of success?
It’s because, in the eyes of Democratic politicians, not everyone’s pain matters. Not everyone’s experiences and perspectives matter. But rather only the pain, only the experiences and perspectives, of groups deemed (arbitrarily and randomly) to be “oppressed.” In the eyes of society, indigenous peoples’ pain matters, but not mine. Black people’s pain matters, but not mine. Queer and trans people’s pain matters, but not mine. It’s like a clique of popular kids in middle school. Only those people deemed “cool” enough to be in the clique matter. There is only empathy, recognition, acknowledgement, and inclusion for those deemed “cool” enough to be in the clique, and not for anyone else.
As an autistic person, I’ve been told all my life that everything I do is wrong. I’ve never been deemed “cool” enough to be in any clique. I’ve grown up feeling that I need to apologize for my tone of voice, the words I use, my body language, my hobbies, the way that I dress, the way that I do my hair… the list is endless. And now I am being told that, because I am descended from European explorers, I need to apologize for existing in the US.
No. No more. I am sick and tired of living in a society that acknowledges everyone’s pain, everyone’s experiences, everyone’s perspectives, except for my own. It is past time that I be included, that I be shown empathy and recognition, that my struggles be acknowledged and my accomplishments celebrated, rather than me being condemned for immutable characteristics over which I have no control. Harris should apologize for the intolerance and lack of empathy that she has demonstrated with this statement.
