Lately, that question has been occupying my mind.
What kind of creature are you?
And that question is not just directed at the person across from me.
Sitting across from me on the metro. Sitting across from me at work, at a conference table. Standing behind a counter at a coffee shop. Chatting with me at the gym.
It’s also directed at myself when I look in the mirror: What kind of creature are you?
For those of you who watch Andor, this line might sound familiar. It’s from season 2, episode 8, aptly titled “Who Are You?”. During the massacre of Ghorman, the old rebel leader Carro Rylanz confronts Syril Karn with exactly that question. Leaving aside the all-too obvious parallels of the Star Wars Empire and the rising empire in this country, this question carries so much more than the obvious question “Are you even human?”
When I ask myself this question, I am asking myself what kind of human I am and, more importantly, want to be. What kind of values do I hold dear, and which will guide my actions. As the days and weeks go by, as we see more and more inhumanity from the current wannabe-Emperor, the values I have held dear my whole life are making themselves known in waves. Crashing against my brain, against my heart, against every fiber of my being. Because those values are publicly being dragged through the dirt — Every.Single.Day — by our current administration:
Kindness, generosity, knowledge, respect, empathy. Humanity.
And not just by the administration but by everybody who supports, partly or wholly, what this government and its lackeys do and stand for:
Greed, selfishness, the promotion of misinformation, fearmongering, destruction. Inhumanity.
So, when I stare into people’s faces, I can’t help but ask myself: What kind of creature are you? Do you believe, just for one second, that what this administration is doing is right, or good, or valuable? That it is contributing to a just and equal society? To what humanity should strive to do, to what humanity should strive to be?
My answer to that is unequivocally NO. Those in power found a way to prey on people’s fears and use them for their own gain. They are not even trying to hide the darkness that festers inside of them.
Don’t let them use you. Take a stand. Acknowledge your fears and engage in dialogue, not hate.
More heartbreaking though are the situations when I am looking into somebody’s face I once respected or even liked. And for whom I cannot, in good consciousness, have any respect anymore. Because you support the destruction of systems that help people. That feed people. That house people. That educate people. That uplift people. And you honestly believe that it’s “making America great again”.
I have tried to listen, and I have tried to see what you see. But I cannot. And it’s making me incredibly sad. Because your hate divides. Divides colleagues, friends, families.
I know what kind of creature I am. An imperfect human who believes that everybody deserves the same chance and help along the way. I am not here to be liked. I am here to leave things better than when I found them. And when I look at you, I am not sure I see even see a human being anymore. I see something I don’t really have words for. A being that has been lied to, bent, and corrupted by people who abuse your fear and who relish in their cruel power over you.
I wonder what would happen if we started to ask this question out loud: What kind of creature are you? I wonder if it would register. If it does, then maybe one day you will rediscover your humanity. Maybe one day, after events have finally affected you or the ones you love, you will look into the mirror and ask yourself: What kind of creature am I? What kind of creature do I want to be? Not this. Not this …
Wow
This article resonated with me so strongly. I have been asked this question in some form my entire life. By other people. “What are you?”
Because my parents came from other countries. Because I inherited a permanently ‘foreign’ face. I was a military brat who grew up on bases overseas. I joined myself after 9/11 thinking it was the most I could do, giving up my lifelong dream creating art, so I could serve my country. I retired from active duty less than a year ago in the midst of the last election. I wasn’t allowed to vote in the state I was registered because I’m no longer active duty. So it’s been doubly painful to see this going on. I live in a deep red district of Georgia where I get stared at all the time because I look “different”.
The hard line really started for me when I watched what happened on Jan 6th. It was worse for me than 9/11. Because this is America, the nation I swore to defend. I remembered getting spit on by protesters when I was a young sailor (I was Navy) and shrugging thinking they’re not mad at me, and my job is to make sure those people have the right to do that. I was irked but unfazed by it. Jan 6 solidified the fact that there are people in America that think only some people can have rights. That is sick and wrong. I’m planning to be in DC to join in protesting this vile and lawless regime. Yeah I even got a couple tickets to the parade, but fully expect to leave my seats empty probably to go for tacos. I fully expect to be asked multiple times “what are you?” The worst part is, more and more that question sounds to me like ‘you don’t belong here’. I don’t care, I’m coming anyway.
Thank you for your service. You belong and have as much right to be here as anyone else. It should be us asking them what they are, not the other way around.