I dont want this to come off as virtue signaling because it's a very real issue issue I feel we need to address but as a white person dealing with other white people one of the dumbest and most persistent things I run into is calling people on racist shit and getting "Wow it doesn't affect you why are you offended?"
Like I once had a person make a "comment" about Black people, sweeping generalization right, and when I went "dude what the fuck" they straight up said, with Sarcasm, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were Black."
LIKE??BITCH?? I'm not an elderly botanist with a soy allergy named Francine either but if you pushed one down an escalator and I was like "what the fuck dude" would you be like "Damn sorry I forgot you lost your aunt to polio in 1935" like BRO YOU KNOW THATS NOT WHY RIGHT
And not just with Racism or Ableism or Homophobia or Transphobia, it seems like every time I run into someone who assumes or takes for granted that I'm a straight white abled cis person and they pull some prejudiced crap I can't say boo without being called some variation of "Just another terminally online liberal choosing to be offended by things that aren't about them, policing other people, holier-than-thou, being preachy and policing others"
And like. I GET it. I understand from a privileged perspective why you THINK I'm being an oversensitive SJW looking for excuses to be mad- it's because you don't think what you're saying is hurting anyone.
And it doesn't, not on it's own, not when you say it alone in an empty room with nobody listening, but it's indicative of a deeper problem!
And as someone who probably cares about you a little, I'm telling you gently that if you aren't willing to realize and address that deeper problem, then you aren't the kind of person I'm going to spend time around anymore! Because there's a difference between being raised in a prejudiced society and naturally inheriting those prejudices, and actively choosing not to improve yourself beyond them.
A little kid shoves someone down an escalator and you can treat it as an important chance to learn critical thinking, Empathy, and consideration, and impulse control
An otherwise fully cognizant adult shoves someone down an escalator forty times a day and they're a dickhead
What I mean to say is that if you're gonna tell me your fucked up thoughts about an entire demographic of people that you don't think I'm part of then you should first, as a visualization exercise, pretend for a second that there are people in that group I care deeply for, and then keep doing that forever until your natural empathy and awareness of others kicks in by itself
ALTHoly shit that's it, thats totally the feeling with other white people- it's like they're revoking your 'white' card
Like being white is being in this big exclusive club where you can say whatever the hell you want about anyone 'outside' cosequence-free, and as long as you keep your mouth shut you can ride the wave to the top, but they kick you out if you threaten that secrecy
Like "Oh, so I can't use slurs around you? I guess you might as well be one of them"
It's the fear of confronting your racist boss, because you may lose your position
The anxiety about speaking up at a family event, as you might be treated as the oversensitive narc
The overwhelming pressure to just humor your awful neighbor until he goes away on his own, to keep future interactions civil
It's fear of being treated like the demographic they're discriminating against already
Revoking your white card. That's exactly what it is
boop-exclamationpoint
