Moments of Permanence - On differences in oppression, derailment, and the hierarchies of hurt

From: tevriel.livejournal.com Date: April 5th, 2009 12:43 pm (UTC) (Link)

Yep, a few times.

And yeah, it's more subtle, but also more jerkish. Why is it so hard for people to recognise this is the topic, that other thing is not?

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From: alias_sqbr Date: April 5th, 2009 12:55 pm (UTC) (Link)

Having been guilty of this sort of thing myself (to my eternal shame) my logic is something like:
This conversation is making me uncomfortable.
When conversations make me uncomfortable it generally means I need to figure out what the problem is and point it out.
HMM. What could be wrong with this conversation?
Well they're not talking about X important thing. Is that it?
Wow, that feels so right. Suddenly this conversation makes sense, and I know what to say, and I don't feel uncomfortable any more! Sweet!

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From: tevriel.livejournal.com Date: April 5th, 2009 01:01 pm (UTC) (Link)

Interesting.

I'm not sure I've ever done it, other than in deliberate reductio ad absurdum. I have been guilty of arguing that something Wasn't Racist, but have generally ended up at Oh, Right, Well, It's Not Racist In MY Cultural Background, But In Context, Dude, WTF.

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From: alias_sqbr Date: April 7th, 2009 11:02 am (UTC) (Link)

Yeah, I've been guilty of "Let me explain how this is or is not racist to you, oh POC" myself from time to time :/

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