I just had a Twitter conversation with a violent racist. This was a self identified white female (we'll call her SS) who was enraged by the issue of race. She attacked someone (who we'll call K) who called out Lorde for blaming all white people for "the system."
All K said was that blaming all white people increases the hate problem.
SS decided to tear down K. "Actually what helps feed hate is the white insecurity you're whining about with these tweets. It emboldens hard core racists... It demonstrates that you're more interested in how POC frustrations might affect your bloated ego instead of the civil harms of real racism...There are nazis marching in the streets, but you have time to clutch pearls over "not all white people" nonsense. Have some dignity."
It was at this point I chimed in, "Don't let an awareness of evil bloat your sense of understanding. If you think white people are the problem, you're missing the point... it's hard not to combat hate and violence with anything but more hate and violence, even if only in our hearts. We have to stop it..."
It was as if I lit a Quran on fire in front of SS. "Meaningless nonsense. If POC expressing their frustration over their very real problems triggers your white fragility it's not about peace."
SS proceeded boldly, calling me everything from Nazi tolerant and racist to weak and an armchair psychologist. If you want the whole thing, hit up my Twitter.
I guess I'm confused by the whole thing. I'm looking for some clarity.
If someone blames a whole group for a problem, isn't it oversimplified and wrong? Like, always? Isn't trying to find common ground and focusing on actual solutions more productive than angry rhetoric and name calling?
This is why I can't identify with the progressive left. It's as if "polite disagreement" is interpreted as "seething hate." If you're not in lock step with the exact auto-updated program, you are unworthy of their esteemed approval. You are ridiculous. You are the problem.
I disdain racism. What happened in Charlottesville is beyond contemptible. Donald Trump is a huge box of tools. These are things most of us can claim on both sides. Why can't we build from there?
I don't think I should have to feel bad about being white any more than anyone of any other race should feel bad about being in their skin. I bleed if you stab me, get fat if I eat too much, and want my children to grow up unafraid of being who they are just as much as anyone else. How is that fragile? How is that racist?
I wish I could show people how hate really tears apart the soul. It's actively wanting harm on others. I reserve that special feeling for child molesters and people who talk at the theater. And, even so, I don't let that control me anymore. It's so taxing, being angry. I was for a long time. I know the rush, the righteous indignation, the cost to the sanity. You just look for more things to hate. You find another. And another. Until one day you discover, revenge has become your whole life.
That's not real life.
That is hollow.
Serenity Forever
Are You Watching Closely?