But there are plenty of reasons to keep plastic straws around—like the fact that many disabled people rely on them to drink and alternatives like paper straws (which get soggy and fall apart) and metal straws (which don’t bend) may not fit the needs of every person with a disability.

note: i certainly understand that those with disabilities may need plastic straws, and i think that restaurants, etc., should have some on standby for those individuals. even reducing the number of plastic straws is a good start!

But our sudden preoccupation with plastics straws and ocean waste has me thinking: Wait, HUH?? What is happening?

I have a friend of Latino heritage who recently moved to Arizona to start a new phase on his life. He viewed it as a great adventure.

Jesus this one hits close to home. My 63 (64?) year old Salvadoran father was jumped by 3 Asian guys on July 4th and hit in the head with something according to his neighbor who called the cops. Thankfully he only has a concussion and a few bruises but this could have easily been a story about my pops if his neighbor…

Interesting. I also find it strange they hate each other. I grew up in a Latino heavy area. The Dominicans wanted nothing to do with the Puerto Ricans. Oh and you better not ever mistake any of them for Mexican. That’s like a hex on their family. As an African American, knowing dark skinned people worldwide experience…

True . Very true. Tho examples I’m specifically thinking of is one family from colombia who have very light skin but they definitely aren’t white. Also a man who looks like he jumped off the boat from El Salvador but looks down on black folks

My surprise isn’t that they are racist - it’s that they are in the Klan.

Basically, internalized racism. My dad liked to call himself a “Spaniard” but he was Basque, Chilean, Italian, and though he wouldn’t admit it, Mexican. Our last name is Latinx. He thought he was white and other Latinxes were below him. As an aside, he was a racist (generally) and a psychopath with an IQ of 169,…

I once had a latino skinhead come up to me to say I was a disgrace to the white race because I was out having dinner with some black friends. That was 20 years ago and I still don’t understand what the fuck his deal was.  He did at least leave when we all burst out into hysterical laughter. 

Wow, Stormy Daniels shut that asshole down. Awesome.

Some of my Latin brothers and sisters think they are so passing that they more than support the forces that oppress their peoples. I've had many arguments with Trump supporting aunts and uncles. They finally shut up when they started kidnapping kids.

I agree. I was talking to my mother about why my husband and I no longer have a real relationship with his family. I told her “At this point, the things that make us different are more important than the things we still have in common.”

That is the killer for me. My family includes all kinds of people, and these selfish damned oldingtons voted to actively hurt their immediate family (who they claim to love) over some desire to...frankly, I don’t even know what.  And I just can't.  

I had to confront the fact that a Trump vote made me love a lot of people on my life less, like there is a big empty spot where my feelings of love for them used to live. I still respect my MiL for raising three kids on her own in a blue collar job while taking care of her super difficult, fairly crazy mother at the…

My aunt went conservative when she married her husband. It’s been immensely frustrating to the rest of us especially her mother, my grandmother, who is still a spitfire liberal at 87. Some people get into crafts or gardening in retirement, my grandmother got into current events and politics. She was always a democrat,…

Your mother’s story is less uncommon than most people think. I have several friends here in NYC who became a little unhinged after 9/11. It wasn’t difficult when the (ultimately futile) search-and-rescue efforts were in progress and American flags were flying everywhere and the world was waiting for the American…

Oh honey. :(. My youngest brother went through something similar about 7 years ago, so I can empathize. He left Oklahoma for the Bay Area with dreams of getting a job with an environmental NGO, and in the years he lived there became an alt-right Alex Jones fanatic (seriously, what are the odds of adopting liberal…

I feel ya on the family situation. My sister is really mean to me, so I’m not predisposed toward forgiving her bullshit. Nevertheless, in my mind I can’t and don’t forgive her for voting for Trump and being completely fine with how his presidency is affecting the country.

That’s rough, I’m sorry, but I absolutely feel you.