“I am a white, college-educated, 63-year-old, straight male. Last year, I was arrested as part of a peaceful civil disobedience in front of the United States Supreme Court. The issue that day was LBGTQ rights. I, along with my fellow American citizens, made a strong statement that may have swayed Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh to side with giving equal rights to LBGTQ people in the workplace. At that event, I noticed that by being the type of person often associated with the oppressive and unequal system in our country, I can make a valuable statement that may resonate with others in my socio-economic bracket. 

All my life, I have seen the damage caused by too much power in the hands of a particular ruling class. This damage is not limited to the oppressed. It is also true for the oppressors. As W.E.B. Dubois noted, the oppressors are almost equally wounded. But their wounds are of the soul and spirit.

I come from a Republican background. But enough is enough. My mother, who had been a member of the Republican Women’s Club in the 1950s, saw the change as well. And at the age of ninety, she wept with joy when Barack Obama was elected in 2008. She was part of the ‘Greatest Generation’ and knew first hand the hazards of tyranny and Fascism.

Being born into a class that is associated with oppression is a burden in itself. I am now committed to giving myself to the cause of fairness and freedom for all in our great country. It is my duty to fight the wrong in my own social class.”