TRA friend and BLM

[maudavery]

I have a very woke friend, she has always been very outspoken on the trans issue but on social media she is surprisingly quiet at the minute, perhaps because JKR has made such brilliant points that it is difficult to argue against. So instead she has been posting a lot about BLM, trying to “educate” her white friends (she is white) about racism and recommend lots of reading. It is normal during this reading to feel defensive and uncomfortable she says. She invites us to DM her so that we can talk about these feelings. She doesn’t intend to sounds preachy and self righteous. She has then listed about 50 forms of covert white supremacy. Some of them I am aware of eg white hero complex, after the Stacey Dooley affair, (but then I wonder, is my friend not demonstrating this herself in her incessant drive to educate others about racism on behalf of people of a different race?)

I always thought not being racist was fairly straightforward- judge people by the content of the character, not the colour of their skin. But apparently this is no longer the case. I need to educate myself (I read very widely and have always read a lot of books by BAME authors, but she is recommending non fiction on the issue of race itself). I’m struggling with it to be honest. “White silence” is a covert act of white supremacy but then because there are seemingly an infinite amount of ways I can be covertly racist, no wonder people are silent because there are so many Microaggressions and covert forms of racism that to say anything at all is risky. (Eg it is racist to tell a black person they are “articulate”) But silence is violence. I just think the whole thing is authoritarian and intolerant the same way that “transwomen are women” is. And if I were to come out as GC on social media, which I have not been brave enough to do yet, then she would dismiss me as a terf and ergo because I don’t sign up to the package deal of the extreme left, I’m probably racist too.

For the record, I work at an outstanding inner city school with a high amount of BAME students. Day in and day out For the last 5 years I have built up relationships with kids of all backgrounds and led my department so that the students achieve excellent academic outcomes. I have diversified the curriculum, but I have also tried to change the curriculum to ensure it is academically challenging and gives our students the “cultural capital” that their more advantaged peers take for granted. I think this is a more meaningful demonstration of my own antiracism than posting a black square on my Instagram, but the former is me being a “white saviour” while the latter is “violence” through silence.

I think black lives matter, I understand why “all lives matter” is wrong, but at the same time, BLM as a political movement is something I cannot support - it’s aims are the end of the nuclear family, the defunding of the police and the overthrowing of capitalism. I also think the conflation of race with certain political beliefs is problematic in itself - a point Priti Patel made well I thought the other day - (although I am not a fan of hers AT ALL) but she seems to have shut down for not being the right kind of race or not having had the right experienced racism - which is surely racist in itself? I was horrified and sickened by the murder of George Floyd. I do not feel personally responsibility or guilt for it though which apparently makes me a racist monster.

I’m wondering if i should engage in a dialogue with my friend about this as she has invited this but wonder if it wouldn’t end well.

[Goosefoot]

It sounds like history teaching is uneven.

Being in a colony, it's difficult to miss out on colonialism entirely!

But I would say, I am not sure that the emphasis on teaching about colonialism has resulted in teaching more about other places like Africa in a positive way. Instead of look how we made these places better, it is all, look how we made these places horrible.

[DuDuDuLangaLangaBingBong]

I think it’s very uneven and only compulsory until 14, when they choose 1 of History, Geography or Religious Education.

Kids that aren’t intending on a humanities pathway at 16 often pick RE as it’s seen as the least demanding of the three (whether that is true or not I do not know!)

[twoHopes]

@Goosefoot yes exactly. I really hope we don't go down the route of just teaching "look how awful Africa is and it's all our fault". I think the perception of Africans as poor, uneducated, helpless people is one of the driving factors in racism towards black people.

If we're going to teach about colonialism then let's also teach about people like Mandela and the anti-colonial movements. There's so little understanding of all this in the UK. I was watching University Challenge last year and they showed a picture of Jomo Kenyatta and not a single person recognised him.

[MsSafina]

There is no written history of Africa by Africans, apart from Ethiopia. From the mid 7th century Africans were enslaved by Arab Muslims and from the 15th century by Europeans. All of African written history is through the prism of slavery.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Africa

[TheProdigalKittensReturn]

My (otherwise excellent) school skipped over colonialism entirely, had to learn for myself later.

[NonnyMouse1337]

@FantaOra

unherd.com/2020/06/minority-women-can-think-for-themselves/

This is a good piece.

I agree with Womaninboots.

I am also perplexed at the message given that it's racist to expect black people to explain racism...fortunately many do anyway.

That's a really good article, thanks for sharing!

[Turrantulurr]

What makes someone woke?

[TorkTorkBam]

@Turrantulurr

What makes someone woke?

Trevor Noah
How Woke Is Too Woke?

[MsSafina]

I have a Marxist friend who thinks the Revolution is about to happen. She has no particular interest in black people but thinks this is a movement on which to piggy back, rather like they did years ago withTrot entryism in the Labour Party.
BOLSHEVIK LIES MATTER.

[Melia100]

Trevor Noah thought it was funny to make a joke that centred around the ugliness of Aboriginal women. I don't click on TN videos as a result.

[maudavery]

Such a useful discussion. What did people make of Dominic Raab yesterday?

On twitter today Douglas Murray has called DiAngelo "a snake oil salesman"

[TheRealMcKenna]

What did people make of Dominic Raab yesterday?

This is my personal opinion, and I may be totally wrong.

I think he knew exactly what the gesture represented. As Foreign Secretary, he is not going to put himself in a position where he is having to comment on a gesture which has links to a political organisation founded in the USA with the stated aims that BLM has given the fact that a large proportion of those making the gesture believe it is purely about supporting anti-racism. Pleading ignorance is probably less career-damaging than the alternative.

Or he could just be stupid.

I asked a question on the thread on AIBU about whether anyone is following what’s going on in CHAZ/CHOP but no one has commented. I’d be interested to hear other people’s opinions about it as I am aware that the sources I am using to get information are probably not impartial.

[TorkTorkBam]

@Melia100

Trevor Noah thought it was funny to make a joke that centred around the ugliness of Aboriginal women. I don't click on TN videos as a result.

One strike and you are out? All opinion expressed by that person is thus eliminated from your pool of information?

So, whose opinions do you consider? How much due diligence do you do to make sure you definitely won't have any chance of hearing from people who do not already share all of your views?

[maudavery]

Exactly! It's exactly this type of intolerance that it at the root of what we are talking about here. And I feel it is seeping Into personal relationships too. Everyone has to be perfect it seems.

[slug]

Time to send her this twitter.com/bbccomedy/status/1010189882503950336

[BovaryX]

What makes someone woke?

Their views, on any given topic, will not deviate from the orthodox position which is issued from 'journalists' like Owen Jones. On trans. On BLM. On Conservatives. On any aspect of identity politics. They will read the Guardian and not even register its racism and sexism. They will snigger at a cartoon of Priti Patel as a cow, but will require smelling salts at the misuse of pronouns. Despite being narcissistic to a level beyond parody, they are incapable of introspection. Many of their poltical positions require industrial strength doublethink. They think #no debate, no platforming and 'vitriol' are legitimate tactics. Their Manichean views are absolutist. They don't believe in freedom of speech, freedom of thought. Or critical thinking. They are proud of their refusal to read anything beyond a narrow, sectarian canon with pride. They have never heard of Professor Popper or falsifiability and they are incapable of addressing challenges to their fragile and unstable arguments without immediately denouncing classic liberals of being 'nazis.' They do not understand the meaning of simple words and Newspeak is their lingua franca.

[TheRealMcKenna]

On twitter today Douglas Murray has called DiAngelo "a snake oil salesman"

I find myself disinclined to disagree with him.

[MsSafina]

@Bovary.
You have to remember that all this liberal handwringing is an import of the US going through one of the ritualistic Salem type purges they go through every 50 year cycle or so. As we're their 51st State, it's inevitable we'll follow suit.

[MsSafina]

@BovaryX
The latest Newspeak buzzword is "problematic" with regard to statues. Problematic means it must be removed from view, preferably destroyed. I am wondering when they are going to move on to the problematic contents of our museums and historic houses. If I were a curator, I would use this period of closure to move anything problematic to a place of safety.

[BovaryX]

[quote MsSafina]@Bovary.
You have to remember that all this liberal handwringing is an import of the US going through one of the ritualistic Salem type purges they go through every 50 year cycle or so. As we're their 51st State, it's inevitable we'll follow suit.[/quote]
Ms.Safina,
One of the many ironies is that the left used to dismiss American exports as cultural imperialism. What happened to that?

[Abitofalark]

@Turrantulurr

What makes someone woke?

Samuel Fishwick can probably tell you. He's a witty fellow who used to write articles in The Evening Standard about how to do woke: "Woke-ing nine to five: the daily struggle to be a modern man". "How to throw awoke stag do" "7 ways to spot a 'woke bae' - the modern man who's had an awakening" "How to be awoke tourist". ..."But can there ever be woke'n'roll?"

And elsewhere there are the satirical writings in the guise of the fictional woke person Titania McGrath. Some readers took it for a real woke columnist.

[MockersMisguidedByTheScience]

Trevor Noah has form. He also made a 'joke' about how the black players who helped win the World Cup for Les Bleues in 2018 could not possibly be French.

[MockersMisguidedByTheScience]

Nope: The gist of his line was 'Don't tell me those guys are French...'

Compete ignorance of the history of Les Bleues, in particular the 1998 World Cup winners who helped to redefine French identity and shove it up Le Pen.

TN also made a joke about Norwegians all being white which would come as news to their football team featuring the likes of Josh King, Alex Tettey or team captain Omar Elabdellaoui.

[andyoldlabour]

MsSafina

On Nancy Pelosi's twitter feed, there are a series of images showing artworks of Confederate figures being removed from the People's House.

twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor