To the Editor,

John DiGirolamo’s December 6 column was a wonder— I had to marvel at how many aggrieved–white guy rants he could roll into one short piece.

First, bashing Colin Kaepernick for “playing the victim” by wearing a t-shirt with “Roots” character Kunta Kinte on it; next, the Canadian NHL broadcast for apologizing for an announcer’s anti-immigrant “why don’t you just assimilate already” comment; then, Elizabeth Warren for calling black trans and cis gendered people and gender-nonconforming people “the backbone of our democracy” after receiving an endorsement from a black women’s advocacy group.

“I need a translator to figure out exactly who that is,” DiGirolamo whined; … “that’s right, only fringe groups matter, ‘regular’ people are last on the priority list.”

A little translating, John, from a cis white woman here: Cis means your gender identity matches the body you inhabit. Trans people have personal and gender identities that don’t conform to the sex they were born with.  Gender nonconforming refers to people who do not follow other people’s ideas or stereotypes about how they should look or act based on the female or male sex they were assigned at birth. And black women are…black women.

None of this is hard to google, or to understand. Unless you’re so busy feeling threatened by it that you can’t see straight.

These communities have had to fight disproportionately for their piece of the American dream, and just for basic dignity and safety. They have been and are often at the forefront of fighting for social justice and human rights issues as a result. And black women voters have had and will have historic impact on elections because of their profound commitment to social justice and high voter turnout. They have and will have a powerful impact on our democracy.

Are you angry that you might not be considered in this instance to be the backbone, John? Feeling a little…marginalized? Have your historic advocacy efforts somehow gone unrecognized? Is there not enough democracy to go around?

The Fraser Valley is home to all kinds of beautiful human beings. Including trans people. Black women. Immigrants. The ones you find so laughable, so exasperatingly hard to understand. They are all “regular.” Before you can pipe up with “all lives matter,” let’s just shoot straight: some lives have historically mattered so much less, and still do. So what if as a country we’re waking up to that lingering inequity and trying to figure it out? So what if it’s awkward, or you’re uncomfortable, or too tired to learn a word you don’t know?

Your willfully ignorant, eye-rolling rant is what garden-variety, everyday prejudice and racism looks like. Using your platform to mock people speaking out on racial injustice, you make it clear that they are, in fact,  “irregular”—and don’t belong.

I’m proud to say that most of the people I know in Grand County would wholeheartedly disagree.

Sincerely,

Cara McDonald

Tabernash

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To the Editor

MFC Serves 2,100 Individuals Per Year.  Over 25% of Those are Children.

Grand County is a wonderful place to raise a child. Still, with rising costs of living, it can be difficult to support a family. Mountain Family Center provides services to help families thrive, such as Weekend Food Totes and fruit stands for students, nutrition education classes, backpacks and school supplies, winter coats and boots and holiday gifts. 

With your amazing support, we SURPASSED our goal of $45,000!

We are truly humbled and grateful. These funds will help us continue to serve Grand County children, families, seniors, individuals, pets and anyone needing a little help to get through. For every Colorado Gives Day donation, great and small, we offer our most heartfelt thanks.

Mountain Family Center