Not necessarily of most of those who will read these words where I post them, at Daily Kos.
In the eye of the current national administration, I am the enemy.
In the “minds” of most conservative Republicans, I am the enemy.
I qualify on many criteria.
I am proud of those qualifications.
Let me count the ways . . . .
I am an experienced teacher, whose 20+ years has primarily been in public school classrooms, wher I expect to again be next fall. Currently I am in a private school for emotionally disturbed adolescents, but in many ways we functions as if we were a public school.
As a teacher I have ALWAYS challenged my students to think critically. I have worked with them to make them better able to express their own ideas verbally and in writing. I make sure they understand the rights to which they are entitled. All of these make me an enemy of those who want schools to create a compliant and obedient work force and a collection of citizens who do not stand up for rights not merely for themselves but for others.
I have been not only a member of a union, but a union leader, and a strong public advocate of the rights of ALL workers to unionization and collective bargaining. This makes me an enemy of those who want to divide workers, to set them one against another, in order to create greater profits and less accountability for corporate oligarchs and their compatriots in the political sphere.
I am in my 8th decade a writer of some skill whose words sometimes have the effect of inspiring and motivating others. At my age I have the luxury of less worry about my personal future which gives me the freedom to speak out and write on behalf of others who may feel their voices lack agency. Sometimes my words, both written and spoken, are able to have some impact upon those in positions of authority and power — in government, in politics, in education. That makes me an enemy of those who want to settle things in “quiet rooms” either to maintain a status quo that benefits them while harming others, or to impose radical changes that would disenfranchise and disempower those who might represent a threat to their dominance.
I have historical knowledge, both as a result of having lived more than 70 years, but also as a result of lifelong habits of constant reading and learning. Thus I am a threat to those who want to limit learning to things that they can control, that give them greater power and security at the expense of the rest of the world.
To many I am an enemy, To those I say I proudly claim that label.
To others I am an ally. I may help empower you. I may help you learn. I will certainly learn from you.
I have a vision of what I would like to see.
I do not insist upon absolute purity of that vision, because I do not accept the notion that seeking perfection is an excuse for not accepting improvement of things less than perfect but better than they currently are or have been.
I have no right to impose my vision upon others.
I have every right to advocate for what I believe, but like all advocates, have to accept that there are other visions with which mine will have to compete.
I accept that I am imperfect.. Every student I have ever taught in more than two decades has heard me accept responsibility for an error, has heard admit I was wrong or worse unkind. All have heard me apologize.
I am an enemy of those who refuse to admit their own errors because I insist that as human beings even those in positions of high or petty authority we not only can err but we will, and we must admit not only the possibility but the inevitability of that happening.
So as you read these words, how do you view me, as your enemy or as your friend, ally, compatriot?
And what does that say about you?
Make of this what you will…..