Missing the point

scereyaha:

I think we should start this with a gentle reminder that talking about and arguing against social injustices and various forms of bigotry isn’t about being “correct”. It isn’t about being “nice”. It isn’t about policing the way people think or interact. 

It’s not an attack on you or someone angrily claiming you’re just a shitty person. [Though I’m sure it can sound and feel just like it.]

It’s an invitation to examine ideas the world has indoctrinated you into, so you can form your own conclusions. It’s about breaking down bias so you can see clearly. And MOST of all it’s about people. 

It’s about discussing the harm that is done to people when they are treated as something they are not, or when they aren’t treated as what they are. We human people are all individuals not defined -solely or even mostly- by our genetics and conditions. When you treat other human beings as less a person than you are –or less an individual person– , you are causing them harm. When you foist expectations on people based on their genetics or conditions, it harms them. 

A plant cared for as though it was a fish rots and dies quickly. 

It’s abuse. It’s Mis-treatement. It kills. And it robs you of recognizing and experiencing the real worth of the people who surrounds you. Worse, it endangers them. It denies you and your environment growth.

The conversations people aim to have about Racism, Sexism, Ableism, and etc… are about breaking down the attitudes and social and cultural conditioning that perpetuates people being mistreated and harmed.

It isn’t about trying to deny people have differences. It’s about breaking down the toxic ideas our culture has that cause us to wrongfully conflate our differences with other negative or damaging ideas. 

It isn’t about one word. It’s about having a discussion about the ideas and attitudes people hold that lead to you feeling justified using it.

The underlying cause for all of this is to treat people as the people they are, not as what our culture has taught us to interpret them as.

The conversation is about enabling you to see past the bigotry and enrich yourself, your life and enrich and save the lives of others.

SO, if you can accept that racism is a battle worth fighting, or sexism is, but trying to discuss not using ableist slurs is “thought policing” or “just taking it too far”.

Honey, you’ve missed the point.

You lack conviction.

Your arguments become self-serving and hollow because you don’t even understand the battle you are fighting.

It isn’t about you doing good. It isn’t about “being pleasant”. It’s about people. It’s especially about people being abused, mistreated and even killed because of toxic social attitudes. It’s about discussing those things and breaking down the ideas we all hold that lead this to continue. Yes, sometimes, in every little word and subtlety because that’s where the context and ideas live.

So when someone talks over someone trying to bring up how something is maybe harmful and could maybe stand to be examined, and all I see are people arguing “You can’t tell me what to do, you don’t get to demand things.”

All I hear is “I’m afraid to examine myself, I don’t care who it’s hurting, these ideas feel like a demand that I change, and I don’t want to put any effort into growing as a person. It looks scary. Don’t try to hold me accountable for how my words and actions affect others.”

Ask yourself. Is your comfort and willful stagnation a thing you even want? And is it worth multitudes of strangers paying for it -for and with– their lives.

How many people’s lives are you wiling to sacrifice for your comfort?