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.
- "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.