Totally agree. I also like that quote because things ARE getting better, bit by bit, scrap by hard fought scrap. Things are still awful, of course, but I don’t think that anyone in any marginalized group would rather live 50 years ago (to pull a number). Nostalgia for a better past is, to me, a symptom of white supremacy and not something I engage with. Things SUCK for most people. They have ALWAYS sucked for most people. But they are better now, at least a bit. There are people trying to tear down even those tiny gains because they feel like life is a zero sum game and they might “lose”. That is, of course, bullshit and we have to fight it every step which is hard, and painful and sometimes feels like more than you can do.
It’s never going to be “done” and there are going to be lots of steps forward that are countered by steps back. But things are improving. It’s just so fucking slow and erratic that sometimes it feels like they aren’t.
And it is never over
ETA: I always assumed that it was because this was before the invention of late fees and all the books just slowly disappeared
