Nichole Nava wrote recently (26 March) complaining that her dream of a unified city, state, and nation is “unlikely to happen again.” Nava doesn’t desire unity; she desires homogeneity. Her version of unity is rigidly conservative.
Saying we can’t have “unity again” implies we once were unified. But who is the “we” and what does it mean to be “unified”? Was that when women couldn’t vote? When African Americans were slaves? Or when American citizens of Japanese descent were held in internment camps during World War 2? White men might, in her phony nostalgic dream, have once felt “unified” but maybe that’s because they were the only ones with a voice and power.
Perhaps most troublingly, Nava appears to promote a narrative mocking the trans community, speaking wistfully of a time when “boys became men and … girls became women,” demeaning people who “ignore biology to promote feelings over facts.” Such statements promote a narrative that hurts and marginalizes human beings (particularly trans kids), leading to spikes in bullying, depression, and self-harm.
Nava’s plea for unity rings hollow to my ears.
— Rob Davidson, Chico
