Sabetsu
Hm, I was enjoying my morning of reading funny blog articles when I was suddenly thrown into a mood of contemplativeness. Partially inspired by this post by ageha_ya, and this article at the Washington Post. As we approach the year 2010 (which, do we have a name for that yet?) we seem to hear more and more about how we as Society are Moving Past Race/Sexism/Homophobia. I mean, how many reporters went on, and on about how Racism Is Over In America after Obama was elected? Same-sex marriage is becoming a reality in more and more places. And with women holding better and more influential jobs in so many areas of business and politics it's nice to think that the fight could be over, or at least nearing its end.
And I like to think of myself as a Realistic Optimist. I hope for the best, but am always watchful for signs that the bad is still here/on its way. And so I am made deeply uneasy by these sorts of declarations. How can we measure the end of age-old oppression? At what point can we say with certainty, "That is a thing of the past."? I worry that by letting ourselves sit back and clink congratulatory glasses of champagne we are turning a blind eye to the people who want very much to keep the fight going. We read their Youtube comments and shake our heads. How sad, those people are drowning in their own ignorance. Don't they see that those ideas are obsolete? Can't they realize that Progress is here and they just have to accept it?
No, they don't. They don't have to accept it, and they won't. And if you ever need any proof that large portions of all populations still hold these horrible sentiments near and dear to their hearts you just need to spend about 10 minutes going through comments on just about any message board system on the internet. Youtube, 4Chan, Digg, and even my beloved Reddit are havens for these people. And with the switch to online vs print media, many newspapers allow commenting on their articles, which is lgiving these trolls and even wider audience. Some writers react to these anonymous outburts with efforts to censor them, but not all. From the Washington Post article:
"Too many of us like to think that we have made great progress in human relations and that little remains to be done. Unmoderated comments provide an antidote to such ridiculous conclusions. It's not like the rest of us don't know those words and hear them occasionally, depending on where we choose to tread, but most of us don't want to have to confront them."
Exactly. I feel like any time we get too complacent we should have to send those 10 minutes on the message boards and remind ourselves that bigotry is still so, so alive, and just saying it's not doesn't make it true.
And then we have to educate. I don't mean get into flamewars with trolls, as that serves no purpose but to give them lulz and raise our bloodpressure. But we do need to be braver about facing and confronting it in our daily lives.
Some links for you: Stuff White People Do. Now, don't get this confused with the comedy site Stuff White People Like (which is still worth a look, I <3 it muchly). Stuff White People Do is a blog written by a white man who is taking a hard look at the things that we too easily let slide.
Packaging Girlhood: a look at how we let the Media decide what it means to be a girl/woman. Oh sure, we can be lawyers, but our Halloween costumes had still better be slutty!
Good As You: a political blog tracking progress and news in GLBTQ rights. Reading a few articles will remind you that just because you can get gay married in Connecticut doesn't mean you can't be beaten to death in New York for seeming gay.
And finally a video I saw a few weeks ago about confronting racism as it happens right in front of us. This video is just heartbreaking. You want to reach into the screen and shake those people. It's easy to watch the video and judge the ones who stayed silent...and judge them we should. But then we can just sit back and say "Wow, what assholes" and then ignore discrimination when it happens around us. Think back on any time someone said "That's so gay" about something they disliked. If you let it slide, if you didn't ask them to explain what exactly was homosexual about being cut off in traffic, or that shirt or whatever, then you've failed too.
I'm not the best at being vocal, either. I used to be a really argumentative person on such issues, but in the last few years I found I've lost my voice. I get tired when faced with a lengthy debate with some jagoff whose mind I know I can't change...so I stay silent and hope someone else will fight it for me. But who is that other person? And who am I to expect that? And who is sitting there in silence hoping that I will speak in their defense?
The fight's not over, not by a long shot.
And I like to think of myself as a Realistic Optimist. I hope for the best, but am always watchful for signs that the bad is still here/on its way. And so I am made deeply uneasy by these sorts of declarations. How can we measure the end of age-old oppression? At what point can we say with certainty, "That is a thing of the past."? I worry that by letting ourselves sit back and clink congratulatory glasses of champagne we are turning a blind eye to the people who want very much to keep the fight going. We read their Youtube comments and shake our heads. How sad, those people are drowning in their own ignorance. Don't they see that those ideas are obsolete? Can't they realize that Progress is here and they just have to accept it?
No, they don't. They don't have to accept it, and they won't. And if you ever need any proof that large portions of all populations still hold these horrible sentiments near and dear to their hearts you just need to spend about 10 minutes going through comments on just about any message board system on the internet. Youtube, 4Chan, Digg, and even my beloved Reddit are havens for these people. And with the switch to online vs print media, many newspapers allow commenting on their articles, which is lgiving these trolls and even wider audience. Some writers react to these anonymous outburts with efforts to censor them, but not all. From the Washington Post article:
"Too many of us like to think that we have made great progress in human relations and that little remains to be done. Unmoderated comments provide an antidote to such ridiculous conclusions. It's not like the rest of us don't know those words and hear them occasionally, depending on where we choose to tread, but most of us don't want to have to confront them."
Exactly. I feel like any time we get too complacent we should have to send those 10 minutes on the message boards and remind ourselves that bigotry is still so, so alive, and just saying it's not doesn't make it true.
And then we have to educate. I don't mean get into flamewars with trolls, as that serves no purpose but to give them lulz and raise our bloodpressure. But we do need to be braver about facing and confronting it in our daily lives.
Some links for you: Stuff White People Do. Now, don't get this confused with the comedy site Stuff White People Like (which is still worth a look, I <3 it muchly). Stuff White People Do is a blog written by a white man who is taking a hard look at the things that we too easily let slide.
Packaging Girlhood: a look at how we let the Media decide what it means to be a girl/woman. Oh sure, we can be lawyers, but our Halloween costumes had still better be slutty!
Good As You: a political blog tracking progress and news in GLBTQ rights. Reading a few articles will remind you that just because you can get gay married in Connecticut doesn't mean you can't be beaten to death in New York for seeming gay.
And finally a video I saw a few weeks ago about confronting racism as it happens right in front of us. This video is just heartbreaking. You want to reach into the screen and shake those people. It's easy to watch the video and judge the ones who stayed silent...and judge them we should. But then we can just sit back and say "Wow, what assholes" and then ignore discrimination when it happens around us. Think back on any time someone said "That's so gay" about something they disliked. If you let it slide, if you didn't ask them to explain what exactly was homosexual about being cut off in traffic, or that shirt or whatever, then you've failed too.
I'm not the best at being vocal, either. I used to be a really argumentative person on such issues, but in the last few years I found I've lost my voice. I get tired when faced with a lengthy debate with some jagoff whose mind I know I can't change...so I stay silent and hope someone else will fight it for me. But who is that other person? And who am I to expect that? And who is sitting there in silence hoping that I will speak in their defense?
The fight's not over, not by a long shot.