Thinking Critically About Social Justice

Re:Thinking Critically About Social Justice by asteli on Monday February 19, 2018 @06:06PM (#16416477)

What ideas are being suppressed because of fear that they could be correct? To be US centric for a moment, I can see examples of attempted suppression of ideas by conservatives - defunding climate change research and the refusal to allow CDC research into gun control, for example.

I'm racking my brain trying to think of counterexamples of suppression from the left. Suppression of white supremacist thought? Anti-gay sentiment? The value of diversity? Who on the left is genuinely (if secretly) afraid that whites are the master race, or that the gays are destroying family values?

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Re:Thinking Critically About Social Justice by zephharben on Monday February 19, 2018 @06:35PM (#16416643)

(speaking as a self-identifying liberal) - Some examples that a "conservative" person might give:

- "by definition, PoC can't be racist" - e.g. as an argument to shut down complaints of "reverse racism"

- white people must listen to PoC's before they can engage in discussions about racism (e.g. - don't force PoC's to engage in the emotional labor of educating you)

- you can't make assertions about the experiences of PoC/women/trans/non-binary people if you haven't lived as one

etc.

I'm not making ANY judgements about the truth/validity of the aforementioned "rules of engagement".

I try to follow these rules when talking about social justice issues. It's no skin off my back - but it certainly adds some limits to the types of conversations I'll participate in, and the kinds of things I might say. I don't think there's anything wrong with that - as long as I don't slip into outright dishonesty as a result of these constraints.

I think some of the backlash against social justice by conservatives comes from the belief that these kinds of constraints are unacceptable, and are concocted by stupid, illogical people.

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Re:Thinking Critically About Social Justice by catdograbbit on Monday February 19, 2018 @06:27PM (#16416603)

One example is the idea that the gender imbalance in tech could be caused by population-level differences between the genders. This is what Damore was arguing for and got fired for.

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Re:Thinking Critically About Social Justice by skookumchuck on Monday February 19, 2018 @06:26PM (#16416598)

Nobody would actually admit they are afraid that the ideas may be correct.

Free speech kills bad ideas. The nazis, for example, have free speech in the US. They get nowhere.

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Re:Thinking Critically About Social Justice by zephharben on Monday February 19, 2018 @08:35PM (#16417215)

re-reading your question, I realize that I ignored the "fear that they are correct" part. That was framed in response to the parent past - I don't have any useful response to that question!

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