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mprotsenkoWhy don't they stop the violence themselves with protests?
That's a question about BLM protesters (and other protesters) that I hear a lot. I literally just commented on that in malyj_gorgan's post.
And then I asked myself - why is it a "them against us" question? It is a false dichotomy. You want to say that rioters and looters are black? Well, significant part of them are white. On top of that we got white Proud Boys, Boogaloo, you name it. These folks actually beat and kill people - that's way worse than robbing a store. (The latter is not beneath white folks, too.)
Why don't we do anything to stop WHITE violence and riots? We have two options here.
1) Maybe it cannot be stopped with protests - only with counter-violence. Then maybe we shouldn't require other people perform a useless and dangerous task (and we shouldn't blame them for not doing it).
2) Or maybe it can be stopped by protests. (I highly doubt that but hey, "show me that it works and how it works".) Then what of us? Who are we, the people who don't protest the violence of our own people?
Of course you can say:
- Hey, those Boogaloo Bois are not "my people", I am not responsible for them, it is not my job to stop them or spend significant portion of my time publicly denouncing them.
But how come that BLM is responsible for rioters then? Can anybody explain that paradox to me?
That's a question about BLM protesters (and other protesters) that I hear a lot. I literally just commented on that in malyj_gorgan's post.
And then I asked myself - why is it a "them against us" question? It is a false dichotomy. You want to say that rioters and looters are black? Well, significant part of them are white. On top of that we got white Proud Boys, Boogaloo, you name it. These folks actually beat and kill people - that's way worse than robbing a store. (The latter is not beneath white folks, too.)
Why don't we do anything to stop WHITE violence and riots? We have two options here.
1) Maybe it cannot be stopped with protests - only with counter-violence. Then maybe we shouldn't require other people perform a useless and dangerous task (and we shouldn't blame them for not doing it).
2) Or maybe it can be stopped by protests. (I highly doubt that but hey, "show me that it works and how it works".) Then what of us? Who are we, the people who don't protest the violence of our own people?
Of course you can say:
- Hey, those Boogaloo Bois are not "my people", I am not responsible for them, it is not my job to stop them or spend significant portion of my time publicly denouncing them.
But how come that BLM is responsible for rioters then? Can anybody explain that paradox to me?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-09-27 08:23 pm (UTC)And splitting the world into us and them has been humans’ favorite pastime since forever. I have to check my own attitude quite often by reminding myself that no, republicans are not inherently evil, no, they are not the enemy of all good, there are good and bad people all over the political spectrum... but it is tempting.