Quote:
Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller
By most definitions I'm a white progressive. Are white progressives, more part of the problem than conservatives? I doubt that. I don't see a lot of white progressives proffering blatant disenfranchisement legislation on the state voting rolls. I don't see white progressives repealing health care which reached minorities in record numbers.
|
YOU GUYS ARE FOCUSING TOO MUCH ON THIS PIECE OF THE ARTICLE.
Arguments can be made that from redistricting of schools to how the Justice system is set up to keep police from ever being accountable to how real estate agents steer people to certain neighborhoods, to a thousand different subtle things, etc., that you are wrong. But if you read that article and come away wanting to discuss why white progressives (
i.e.,
you) aren't the
worst problem, then I have to wonder if we read two different articles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller
Thurgreed: Although I generally align with white progressives, here is where I have some serious problems: Microagressions....slights so small one must hire an expert to point them out.
|
Spoken like someone who has never spent a considerable amount of time in the minority.
Let me tell you something as the only black guy in the room throughout school and my career almost ALL the time. Constant micro-aggressions are fucking exhausting. Whoever gave them that name did the concept a real disservice. When I went to school, in a 3 hour span, I may have heard:
"What part of the ghetto did you grow up in?"
"Can I touch your hair?" [Back when I had it, and no, it isn't just women who experience this.]
"Wow, how did you get in to such a good school?"
"Excuse me, sir, are you in the right place?" for the 40th day in a rowfrom a security guard as white person after white person flies by.
"Are you a
member of this gym?"
"Wow. A platinum card. Can I see your ID?" while no one else gets asked for ID.
All micro-aggressions. And that is the absolute smallest slice of examples I can cut. They might seem small, but let me tell you something, they make you want to commit murder after hearing them day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year your entire fucking life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller
Trigger warnings. Safe spaces. Shouting down conservative speakers. These are used, particularly on college campuses by both white progressives, and minorities.
|
This is the holy grail of white people who want to throw up their hands and say, "Minorities and liberals are out of control!"
Yeah. Some college campuses are struggling with this. But I hear about this bullshit out of the mouths of white people more than I hear about examples of actual racism. It is such a small problem relative to the overwhelming issues related to racism that it amazes me when otherwise smart, informed people act like it's going to destroy the world.
I went to a small liberal arts school in the early 90s. We had many similar problems then that you are describing now. A lot of it is ridiculous. Shouting down speakers? Ridiculous. Safe spaces? Do you know what this means? Is it okay for people who are in an extreme minority to have a place to go where they feel safe and comforted? Sure. Is it overdone on campuses? Maybe. Have you
ever encountered someone demanding one? No. Just fucking stop it. Trigger warnings? Yeah, I've heard of it. Do I know anyone who has ever been anywhere that requires a trigger warning or was it in some article that I read as an example of things just going way in the wrong direction.
All of these examples are used to reduce and diminish the experience of people of color. It's the same as when "Political correctness is out of control" was the exasperation of the day. Citing these examples is a tactic
designed to let white people who don't really give a shit off the hook. And it makes them feel better about themselves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller
I find these both offensive and counterproductive. So do my views on this make me worse than, to tear a page from today's truly hilarious news, Jason Spenser?
|
No. But go buy the book.
TM
