Insularity

There has been a rather contentious argument going on at BlogRhet. Some may have noticed that I've been participating in the fray.

Yes. I was angry. And I know it's unusual for me to express it so strongly.

However, a dynamic took place there that really disturbed me. People were being "othered" because their views didn't match the dominant view.

I've never seen that before. Not there. It's always been one of the more respectable forums around the Internet.

I was one of the ones who was "othered", so I feel like I can address this with that personal perspective as well as a broader point of view.

It was the stuff of real alienation.

The topic is racism. The predominant, acceptable viewpoint is that, yes, white people have no right to say anything about it because, after all, we're white ~ and therefore we're imbued with a certain level of privilege.

And I'm calling bullshit.

I have spent eleven months on the peripheries of this community we've all had a part in building. And I've been hurt a few times by something that happened or didn't happen. I've apologized.. and been apologized to.. and it all worked out in the end.

This time feels different.

Due to my viewpoint being different, I was flat-out snubbed.

And I'm pissed off because I don't deserve that kind of treatment. I don't do it.. and I don't blanketly accept it.

Even more importantly, my view is a valid one to be put on the table with everyone else's.

My opinion, in a nutshell, is that racism is a function of capitalism, it is a function of economic inequality.

We can natter on for the next ten years about what a shame it is that members of the larger human community are marginalized but until the basic reality of economic equality is addressed, we'll be nattering about the same thing for ten years after that!

I say this here because I can't be censored here.. and I can't be "othered". I can't be silenced in this space. And yes, dismissing someone is silencing.

I resent the implication that because my skin is a certain color, I don't have a voice.. and I don't have a right to use it. Guilt is a powerful bullying tool.

That is about as racist as it gets!

When we really want to solve the problem, we're going to have to be willing to deconstruct it and look at all the elements, even those that make us uncomfortable.

It means we might have to change some of our fundamental views and it means we might have to change some cherished customs.

Like produce-and-consume.

Like economic inequality.

Like blanket discrimination of anyone who doesn't toe the mainstream line.

When there's a willingness to do that, then some useful change might take place.

Until then, the nattering and complaining will go on.... and on...

....and on.

And that's my sorng baht.

Take it or leave it.

~*