The End of the Week

It’s Friday, and I’m back on my regular schedule of working from home today. It is so nice to be able to log into my work computer with my cup of tea in hand, in sweats and a t-shirt, knowing the weekend is just around the corner, and I don’t have to get out in the cold this morning. Working from home is more than just a shift in location, it’s a chance to set the tone for a productive yet relaxed day. It’s easier to focus without the buzz of the office, and the flexibility means I can finally tackle the laundry piling up. Mostly though, I will spend the day preparing for next week’s classes. I’m just glad I can do it while being more relaxed from home.

I feel bad for all the government workers out there who have lost the privilege of working from home. In this first week, the new administration in Washington has already begun to dismantle America, whether it’s revoking job offers and laying off all government employees who have worked less than a year to allowing ICE agents to invade schools to take away students. In the United States, don’t kids have enough to worry about with school shootings and not feeling safe in school, but now worrying that armed agents of the government are going to burst into classrooms and drag them away?

You haven’t heard much about the new administration on this blog because I find it so disheartening and depressing. It’s not like there isn’t a lack of things to say. Since a fascist oligarchy has assumed office on January 20, the new administration has enacted several policies that have raised concerns about the erosion of human rights and democratic principles:

• Terminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs;
• Banning non-U.S. flags at embassies preventing the display of flags representing various social movements, such as LGBTQ+ Pride and Black Lives Matter;
• Revoking affirmative action policies ending hiring practices that had been in place since 1965 ending attempts to create workplace diversity;
• Signing an executive order on “Biological Truth” enforcing a strict male-female binary and disregarding the existence of intersex individuals and transgender individuals;
• Attempting to end birthright citizenship, disregarding a key provision of the the definition of a US citizen in the Fourteenth Amendment; and
• Erasing transgender rights by halting the issuance of gender-corrected passports and other policies aimed to promote transphobia in the federal government.

Each of these actions have been widely criticized by human rights organizations and advocacy groups as undermining civil liberties and democratic norms. Legal challenges are anticipated as stakeholders seek to uphold protections against discrimination and preserve democratic principles. My fear is that with the current makeup of the Supreme Court, these policies will be upheld no matter how blatantly unconstitutional and undemocratic they are.