The Freedom Class

Yeah, some lady here legally on a student visa was pulled off the street this week for writing an op ed in a college newspaper. But hey, a lot of us are all good!

Hi there. As always, I’ll ask you to please listen to this on Shordio, where I do the narration and you can hear audio of this frightening arrest in the streets of Somerville in Massachusetts. You can download the Shordio app from the App Store if you want or just tap this link for the website.

And if you know anyone you think would be interested in reading or listening, please feel free to forward along. Thanks!

I had this crazy dream last night and woke up completely terrified. The room was dark and I was confused, and I couldn’t immediately confirm that what I had dreamed wasn’t in fact happening in real life. And so in a panic, I got up, went into the bathroom, and closed my eyes as I turned toward the mirror and switched on the light.

And then, suddenly, a huge sigh of relief.

I was who I thought I was. But then again… was I?

There was one detail I wasn’t sure of, and so I ran back into the bedroom, opened a drawer, pulled out a document, and then – finally – all was okay again.

I don’t even want to tell you who I was in my dream. It doesn’t matter. What matters is the person I saw in the mirror and in that passport that I pulled out of that drawer. And that person is this:

A white male and a citizen of the United States. In this country, in 2025, that makes me a double lottery winner. Why?

Well, first off, it means I can’t be pulled off the street for having an opinion inconsistent with whoever decides what acceptable opinions are. I can write or say anything about anybody, and I’m protected by the law. I can say, “Divest from Israel!” or “Human rights for Palestinians!” and get away with it. I can be pro-Semitic, neutral-Semitic, or anti-Semitic, and not worry that I’ll get shipped off to some detention center, even if I’m in the country legally with a student visa. They do something wrong, they’re on a plane before a judge has time to make a ruling, or even after he does. I do something wrong, it’s all you can eat at the due process bar!

Being a white male also means that people will never look at me and say, “That person seems smart and capable, but they probably got to where they are because of some diversity equity inclusion policy.” Nope. Nobody will question my capabilities because I’m not black or Latino, and I’m not a woman. Oh, and if there’s a website talking about my achievements and contributions, it won’t get removed by a DEI filter because the subject – me – will be white and male. How great is that?

Speaking of gender, I don’t have to worry that’s going to be an issue in anything I want to do. If I want to fight for my country, nobody will tell me that my participation wasn’t welcome because I didn’t conform to a societal norm about sexuality. Isn’t that awesome?

In case you’re interested, I did finally fall back asleep, and had the most wonderful dream. I was at the presidential inauguration, like in the Capitol Rotunda where the actual ceremony was taking place, my white male president giving a speech. As I looked around, I was struck by the most comforting sensation.

Almost everyone else in the room just like me, representing a world of safety, security, freedom, and, most importantly…

Uniformity.