"We are not all this together"
We might not all be equally invested in racism but we are equally invested in how to be as a society or country. So if I think that affirmative action is counter-productive to equality or I think statements like "defund the police" lost us congressional seats in the last election, I'm allowed to voice that.
I'm a die-hard democrat but I don't pretend to be an ally to the latest incarnation of the Black Lives Moment. It's not as much of my concern as the health of the whole country. Is it better that I'm transparent about not being an ally than being an ally at all? I think there should be an empathetic triage on the part of this author. I don't expect the author to like me very much who wouldn't feel the need to march for George Floyd, but I would expect the author to embrace the efforts of people who are invested and care in that struggle to the It's up to her to appreciate who she wants.
“I’m not racist”: Ooookayyyy, whatever it is you call this, you’re still getting fired for it.
Being fired for being "racist" isn't NECESSARILY justified. In fact, I think it's more important to define what we mean with the word "racist" rather than using it as a catch-all for anything that's negative to the black community. Someone who builds a highway that divides communities and inevitably led to more black community didn't NECESSARILY do it because he hates black people. He wanted to make a better highway and might not have anticipated or felt those consequences are important enough.
Similarly, the sole motivation of voting for a candidate or pushing a bill in congress or wearing a certain dress isn't necessarily because they want to keep blacks down.
“Property destruction isn’t the way”: Just pretend it’s Black, then it won’t bother either of us.
No, I'm pretty sure most people don't like property destruction period. It should not be excused and at the very least it shouldn't be swept under the rug.
“Racism goes both ways”: Yeah, I don’t follow.
If you want others to have a notion of checking their attitudes around you, I'm unsure of why you're unwilling to consider the other way around.
Everyone has pre-conceived notions of others based on skin and therefore everyone is a little racist and those thoughts aren't bad on their own as what you do with them. An Orwellian environment of thinking if you just root out the "racists", you'll solve the problem Racism is mostly an uneducated set of biases that can be overcome with education. I understand the frustration, but there's no use in being militaristic about it. but more dialogue At the end of the day, no one has an obligation to be your ally at all
