"It's a hell of a hard thing to maintain that level of hate face-to-face." I hope she will always find that to be true.

This has been digging at me as I ran around today. This kind of racism is common and widespread, the only thing that changes is what group is being targeted. I have frequently used my white privilege to advise patients to shut up and be grateful that anyone is willing to wipe their nasty asses.

If people want to cut off their noses to spite their face, then it is on them. If they try to advance that agenda to limit or block my access to those providers then we have a problem. If they attempt to prevent those providers from being able to practice, we have a problem.

On the subject of Oregon - I love this state. I love the politics here and the priorities that are being set by our governor and by our legislators. I also recognize that there is a VERY large urban/rural political divide, that our prisons have some of the highest discrepancies in the nation between % of incarcerated POC vs % of the population.

And I recognize the state's history as being established as a racist white bastion, and that POC are still very underrepresented in our population. But it feels like a place where that is something people will care about changing, rather than trying to preserve. And I want to be a part of ensuring that those priorities remain in place.

I'm really gutted by what is going on in our country right now. The fact that an obvious phrase like 'Black Lives Matter' becomes fucking controversial. That women succeeding in literature or game development is a cause for mass hysteria and hate. That who someone loves or who they worship becomes so threatening to the weak of love and the faint of faith.