saying something this edgy does not absolve you of bigotry

edit: for anyone stumbling into the drama, i probably should have elaborated on this post. I am not saying you can’t make fun of white people not being able to eat spicy food or anything, but at some point it becomes self-flagellating. to quote comrade RedQuestionAsker:

It’s good to challenge white supremacy in all of its incarnations at all time. It’s certainly good to refuse to be proud to be white considering what the concept of whiteness is.

It’s another thing to performatively hate yourself in a cocktail of millennial self-deprecation and liberal white guilt. It’s not revolutionary, and it’s probably not good for you.

that is all. comrades just know i dont hate any of you. i’m not trying to start a slapfight. i just saw this as weird performative behavior and wanted to call it out.

  • Goadstool [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    9 months ago

    I usually try not to engage in discussions about this stuff (except for once before like years ago), but maybe I’ll indulge a little bit and just say that not only does it make me uncomfortable when I see it, but I also know that it actively turns many people away from ideas of actual leftism when they see it, especially whenever they don’t know how “serious” people are around here when they throw around the cracker-word.

    I’m bi-racial and I don’t have much of a “racial identity” (whatever that’s even supposed to be or look like), so admittedly I always get at least a little uncomfortable when anybody starts talking about their or someone else’s “race”, much the same way I get a little uncomfortable when people start generalizing each other because of their age, their gender, whatever.

    I fully recognize that white privilege is a real thing in western cultures, and that anyone who can be construed as “non-white” is put at a very real disadvantage in many real-world situations (sometimes fatally so), and so because of that I also recognize the urge to undermine the general concept that “white = good / normal” by lashing out against it. But when you call someone who’s open to leftism but doesn’t have a complete understanding of things a “cracker”, for example, you put them down in a way that they usually perceive as intensely bigoted, to the degree that they will stop listening to every single thing you say after that. They’ll leave here, and never take you or anyone associated with whatever they perceive as your ideology seriously again. And I think that’s a big shame, because instead you could be trying to guide them to a more enlightened view of the world.

    Ultimately - regardless of how justified it is by societal conditions - it’s a hateful act, born of hate (often times self-hate), and I don’t feel like that’s in the spirit of communism.

    And, at the end of the day, I am conserving all my hatred for the moment when I personally blow away mr-beast during the revolution.

    • Raebxeh@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      And, at the end of the day, I am conserving all my hatred for the moment when I personally blow away mr-beast during the revolution.

      I missed this storyline in your game but welcome it with open arms

    • whatup [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      But when you call someone who’s open to leftism but doesn’t have a complete understanding of things a “cracker”, for example, you put them down in a way that they usually perceive as intensely bigoted, to the degree that they will stop listening to every single thing you say after that.

      White people who are that sensitive are never going to take someone who’s black, mixed, etc. seriously in the first place. Calling them a cracker is the funnier option ´cos at least you get to see them fume.

      • Goadstool [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        Sadly, this really just isn’t true. You’re thinking of white people as matured adults who’ve already been spoon-fed whatever liberal or conservative propaganda that first spoke to them, and been led down that path for some time. But, there are enormous sums of people out there who either aren’t really that invested in political thinking, or haven’t really been guided to a more radicalized point of view. And, just like the former group, the latter group often views the word “cracker” as a slur equal to any other, not having the historical context to weigh the use of that word against another. So, when you use that word, they’re going to take it very seriously, regardless of how sarcastic you’re being, and regardless of how much a word like that means in comparison to a slur used against a marginalized group.

        I know this because many people start out from this position - all slurs are equal, everyone deserves equal treatment, etc. It may not be how the US behaves, but it is what people are taught in grade school (usually).

        Well, I said “sadly”, but to be honest I don’t view this reality as something sad. I think it’s actually quite a good thing not to simply write off anyone who will react in such a way, because like literally everyone here on Hexbear or anyone else, context is not naturally inherited - it needs to be taught, and with patience (and the interest to do so) you can often open people up to a greater, truer understanding of things. If you just call them a cracker and tell them to fuck off, then you’re effectively further barricading the door to leftism against them. That doesn’t mean tolerating any kind of hateful words or misinformation they might be spouting, it just means not giving up on everyone who doesn’t super love it when you compare them to mayo or whatever.