A comment of hope from our last post: “I was a Republican from the time my dad pinned an ‘I like Ike’ button on my chest until Trump. I had to man up and make the change. Not easy but they changed first.”
At Penzeys, we believe cooking set our humanity in motion. Our nearly one million years gathered together around the fire taught us true strength does not come from driving others away, but from welcoming others in.
The kindness of tens of thousands of generations of Cooks created our humanity, but racism, sexism, and homophobia can all too easily undermine the goodness Cooks work so selflessly to create in the world. As a business of Cooks, we have decided, for better or worse, we won’t sit idly by while this happens.
Yesterday I was forwarded an email that stated that I had called all Republicans racists and anarchists. I also received another email that said, “Your comments echo those of the desperate left who have no message for the nation other than that of 'All Trump Supporters Are Racist!'”
First off, I don’t believe any human is truly an anarchist. How is anarchy something you can believe in? Not to say that people haven’t posed as anarchists to create a reason to justify crackdowns, or possibly simply to get dates, but no, I’ve never called Republicans anarchists. And on the charge that I’m somehow echoing others calling all supporters of the President racists, I don’t think I was echoing anyone on that notion, I’m pretty sure I was right there at the very beginning hitching the horses to that bandwagon.
One week after the 2016 election I wrote in an email: "The open embrace of racism by the Republican Party in this election is now unleashing a wave of ugliness unseen in this country for decades. The American people are taking notice. Let's commit to giving the people a better choice. Our kindness really is our strength."
In sifting through the replies to that email it was clear that, though not intended, a good number of people seemed to sincerely believe in my statement I was calling all Republicans racists. In the replies from those Republicans who did not vote for the party's nominee, I sensed genuine pain at having the strength of character to not go along with what was happening, but nonetheless be grouped in with those who did. I apologized and said “You are your party's future, and you deserve my admiration and respect, and your country's as well.”
I did go on: “For the rest of you, you just voted for an openly racist candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. In your defense, most of you did so without thinking of the consequences of your candidate's racism because, for most of you, the heartbreaking destruction racism causes has never been anything you or your loved ones have had to experience. But the thing is, elections have their consequences. This is no longer sixty years ago.
“Whether any of us like it or not, for the next four years the 80% of this country who did not just vote for an openly racist candidate are going to treat you like you are the kind of person who would vote for an openly racist candidate. You can get angry at everyone else for treating you like you just did the thing you just did, or you can take responsibility for your actions and begin to make amends.”
Two years and tens of thousands of emails trying to convince me otherwise, haven’t. Voting in the 21st century for what House Speaker Paul Ryan labeled before the election “textbook” racism is indeed an act of racism. The impact on all Americans, whatever their skin tone, of saying you are fine with open racism, or at least don’t see how it should disqualify a candidate for the presidency of the “United” States of America, is a very real and very racist impact caused by your vote.
Does committing a racist act make you a racist? I think the answer to that comes in your response to what you have done and in what you do going forward. Where my thinking has changed in these past two years is that I no longer believe you have to go out of your way to make amends for who you voted for in the past election. All you have to do to make amends for helping to put this president into the White House is to stop supporting him and those who enable him.
For reasons I still have not quite figured out, our last Facebook post really took off and now has over 25,000 comments. In those comments are many much like the one this email starts with that speak to the difficulty of choosing the values the writer was raised with over loyalty to the party they were raised to believe in. That’s not an easy step—more of a leap really. It takes strength. As another customer put it: “Don’t let the label you have slapped on yourself not reflect the truth of what you believe. I grew up in a Republican family, and heck, even my mom isn’t Republican anymore.”
Right now the President is going to great lengths to distance himself from the language of hate that he uses towards immigrants, the press, his previous opponents, and pretty much any American that lives outside the narrow demographic of his support. Instead of taking responsibility for his words, he’s pushing the false notion that those who oppose him are the ones driven by hate and anger. This simply isn’t true. Hate doesn’t drive people to work for racial equality, transgender rights or the welcoming of asylum seekers. What drives us to care about others is our humanity, something Cooks have in abundance.
On that Facebook post, from the likes and warm, positive comments received by those coming to grips with the reality that holding onto their beliefs means letting go of their party, I can tell you that you won’t find any hate on the other side, just kind decent people looking to support you for your courage. With the election less than a week away, now really is the time to choose who you want to be and what you want to stand for. And my thanks to all the Penzeys supporters for the kindness, strength, and compassion found in your comments. Your spirit makes what we do possible.
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Originally Posted by Glenn
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