![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/r9f.352.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/SF-rally-against-hate-8.26.17.jpg?resize=584%2C438\")
Like a lot of people alarmed in general by the election of Donald Trump and horrified in particular after he<\/a> lent aid and comfort to white supremacists and Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville<\/a>, I\u2019ve been trying to figure out the best way to respond. It\u2019s hard to know what\u2019s just a feel-good but meaningless exercise, what is effective, and what inadvertently gives the issues and views I deplore oxygen.<\/p>\nSince my activism is more aspirational than actual, I often turn to my friend Ruth, whose pragmatic idealism inspires me to try to at least occasionally emulate her persistent roll-up-her-sleeves-and-get-to-work ethos. \u00a0When I bumped into Ruth after Charlottesville, I asked what she thought of the protests being planned to counter right-wing advocates descending on San Francisco and Berkeley. Was showing up a good idea, or just playing into their hands?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Ruth offered. \u201cBut you know what? I can\u2019t go anyway\u2014I\u2019m going to be phone banking. We\u2019re trying to get Democrats elected to the state legislature in Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t really like phone banking\u2014who does? But as far as I\u2019m concerned electoral politics are where it\u2019s at. You snooze, you lose, particularly at the ballot box. Besides, I felt nervous about the volatile mix of right-wing rallies and counter-protests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like a much better plan,\u201d I told Ruth. \u201cSend me the info.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mid-week, Ruth texted that the phone banks had been canceled so people could participate in a San Francisco rally against hate<\/a>. It would be several miles from Chrissy Field, where the right-wing Patriot Prayer<\/a> group planned to gather, and I felt much better about that. Proximity often breeds trouble. Besides, I had been horrified to learn that, thanks to a 2010 federal law, national parks\u2014which includes Chrissy Field–must allow open carry. (Thankfully, SF city officials wouldn\u2019t grant a use permit until the Patriot Prayer organizers agreed to stringent contingents, including no weapons.) I also did not want to attend the Berkeley counter-protests even though I know many good people involved. Berkeley is a flashpoint, with the opposing sides in much tighter quarters. The city is often the epicenter provocateurs love to goad, with an Antifa contingent only too happy to oblige; predictably dismal results just feed the right-wing narrative.<\/p>\n But it felt important to show up in San Francisco. My husband and I made plans to take BART over to the city with friends. Ruth was making her own way there via a different route, and we texted back and forth about our anxiety and hope. Then, at the last minute the Patriot Prayer organizer canceled<\/a> the Chrissy Field event, though his protestations of victimhood and promises of showing up elsewhere were disquieting.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you still going?\u201d I texted Ruth.<\/p>\n \u201cYes! As important today as yesterday,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n And so we went. Blue skies and a festive atmosphere prevailed in San Francisco. We arrived at the gathering spot long before the march to City Hall commenced, so sought shade and refreshment in the Mission District. We thanked the police lining the sidewalk. They were taking the scene in stride, but confessed to preferring a day off more than overtime pay. We checked out a \u201cDance for Equality\u201d counter-protest, full of face-painted kids and rainbow attire. We detoured quite a bit from the march route, but caught up eventually to join the crowd<\/a> at the Civic Center. Great signs, great spirit<\/a>, great to see that people of goodwill vastly outnumber the haters.<\/p>\n We showed up, we stood up to bigotry, we went home.<\/p>\n Tomorrow we phone bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like a lot of people alarmed in general by the election of Donald Trump and horrified in particular after he lent aid and comfort to white supremacists and Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, I\u2019ve been trying to figure out the best way … Continue reading ![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shrinkrapped.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/SF-rally-Ctrl-Alt-Right-Delete-8.26.17.jpg?w=190&h=190&crop=1&ssl=1\" "\\"SF")
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