It's your inexhaustible optimism on things like the chance of racist Trump voters changing to be better people that makes me like your posts sol.
This bothered me a little bit when you posted it, and it took me a few days to think about why.
Trying to extend empathy and understanding to racists (sexists, homophobes, rich people, etc) doesn't feel like optimism, it feels more like defeatism. An optimist would look at improvements in the past 50 years and think we were on the right track, that if we just wait long enough everyone will come around. An optimist would trumpet the past successes of the progressive movement and assume that was going to be sufficient. I'm arguing that we need work a little harder, and that the only way to really move the needle is to treat people better than they deserve. That's hard.
A racist Trump voter, or a misogynist, or a fat-shamer, these people probably don't deserve your patience and understanding. It feels totally justified to flip them the bird and move on. But I think we HAVE to make a better effort to reach out to worst among us, as it's the hallmark of liberalism to do so. For example, when social conservatives controlled the majority they never made any attempt at "well let's listen to both sides" or "everyone deserves a chance to be heard" or even "let's identify the underlying problems here". It was always just attack dogs and firehoses, arson and lynching, Jim Crow and boot stomping. They didn't give a shit about the minority. Now that the social conservatives are becoming the minority, suddenly they're all about protecting minority opinions, and listening to everyone's feedback as equally valid, because they lost the culture war and found themselves on the wrong end of the metaphorical boot heel. Liberals would be slightly hypocritical to take their new majority and treat the minority the same way they were treated just because it feels good.
In some sense, racists are the new minority. And just like "the blacks and the gays" of generations past, the unique set of cultural problems inherent to their culture are not wholly the result of them all being bad individuals. They are raised in bad environments that reinforce these problems. Just like kids from the projects grew up to be drug dealers, racist white boys grow up to catcall and hurl racial slurs. Blaming every single redneck for being a shithead isn't that different from blaming the Central Park 5. There are larger, systemic problems at work here that need rooting out and addressing, rather than just shoveling hate at each individual person.
Racism effects everyone differently, and to varying degrees, and not just based on skin color. Sasha and Malia are not more downtrodden victims of racism than white trailer trash from Alabama. Those girls grew up with wealth and privilege, in a world that tries to judge them for their skin color. BillyBob grew up in poverty surrounded by hatred and bigotry, in a world that judges him for his. If he's a complete piece of shit racist with a confederate flag on his pickup, that's not entirely his fault, just like it's not entirely the fault of the kid from the projects who turns to dealing drugs. His options are somewhat limited.
Which is why it bothers me when Poundwise says white Americans should not only take action to stop racism, but also apologize for the actions of white people. I didn't oppress you, and I'm supposed to apologize? Ben Carson is black and he's done more to harm black Americans than I ever have, why isn't anyone calling on him to apologize? My family have been the victims of racist hate crimes, and I'm supposed to apologize to our attackers because it's assumed that I'm part of the problem because of my skin color? How is that different from expecting Sasha and Malia to apologize for the inner city crack epidemic? Isn't that, itself, textbook racism?
Racism impacts individuals in different ways, and as such individuals each bear differing amounts of responsibility for it. It's not my fault that I have benefited from being born white, just like it's not Treyvon's fault that he has suffered from being born black. I'd like to believe that the real target here is inequality, and that people who have suffered from bigotry and hatred are the ones who deserve apologies, not everyone with slightly darker than average skin. Random chance determines how you were born. Society at large determines how you are treated. You only get to decide how you live, and I strive to personally treat people based solely on that last one, and I'm only asking you to return the favor. Don't lump me in with BillyBob just because I'm also white, because that's racist.
Or with the Pussy Grabber in Chief because I'm also a man, or Mike "conversion therapy" Pence because I'm also straight. I am not guilty of the sins you despise, so maybe stop treating me the way you would treat them.
But focusing on the need for Black Americans to acknowledge/apologize for prejudicial crimes and attitudes creates a false equivalency.
I'm definitely NOT focusing on that. In fact I was doing the exact opposite, saying it's ridiculous to expect a black accountant from the suburbs to carry the least bit of individual racial guilt for inner city crime rates. I wasn't creating false equivalency, I was highlighting how dumb that equivalence would be. Only a racist would blame all black people for a problem in the black community, so why do we continue to blame all white people for problems in the white community?
And before that paragraph brings an onslaught of "yea but"s, yes I'm acutely aware of the generations or evil committed by white people, and the way that evil continues to echo through modern society. I'm not pretending things are anywhere near equal, nor do I believe we'll ever see appropriate amends made. I'm only saying that at some point, in order to heal and move forward, we're going to have to let the sins of our forefathers die with them. Don't blame me, the product of starving immigrant Iowa dirt farmers, for what happened on cotton plantations in Georgia. In return, I won't blame Obama for what's been done to my family by black people. You don't swear off marriage because one of your ex-boyfriends called you the c-word. You don't fly a swastika flag because a Jewish lawyer screwed you once. You have to treat people as people, despite the historical patterns that came before.
Lots of places have dealt with generations of evil but are actively trying to move past it, see for example Ireland and England, France and England, Australia and England, America and England, etc. It takes time and it's definitely not fair, but eventually we can all move past it.
And in the meantime, since that's at least several generations away, maybe trying to extend a little unwarranted kindness to someone who hates you. Understanding their circumstances goes a long way toward forgiving their behavior, in my experience. You don't change anyone's mind with your middle fingers in the air, and I feel like large portions of the liberal establishment,
my establishment, just live with middle fingers permanently extended these days.