Yes, thank you for this analysis. I heard a great conversation a few weeks ago between Naomi Klein, Chenjerai Kumanyika, Astra Taylor, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and that was one of the themes -- that we've got a counter revolution happening without the full or even partial realization of the actual revolution. So painful.
This is a strategy as old as rhetoric, stretching back a couple thousand years: Whomever wins the battle of naming wins the battle of framing and thus the argument. Is it a riot or a protest? Is it leveling the playing field or providing unfair advantages to the undeserving? Is it addressing centuries of ongoing harm, or lowering standards? Is it making white folks feel bad for "things from the past that aren't their fault," or simply telling historical truth (and current) truth? People prefer to hear what's not going to make them feel bad. The battle is getting them to move past that. We have to keep building and understanding of injustice and a recognition that combating it is an ongoing struggle.
Love this post, and now I want to make t-shirts that say WOKER THAN EVER, BITCH. Yeah surely this white woman's t-shirt will save the world.
I've been railing about script-flipping in completely ineffective ways for years, and I love the far-more-effective ways you express that, thanks to the miseducation of Americans, naming is all you need to persuade people, no argument necessary. I remember when Kaepernick kneeled, then Trump called it unpatriotic, then the media repeated, "Is kneeling during the anthem unpatriotic?" instead of "Is Trump a racist?" or "Is racism patriotic?" or "Is patriotism racist?"
A year later when hundreds of players were kneeling, I was invited to talk about holiday etiquette on NPR's All Things Considered. The last question: "Even football is controversial these days! How should people visiting their families handle it?" I said, "If your uncle says those guys kneeling are unpatriotic, you need to tell him those people are protesting racist violence, and when he willfully misunderstands them, he's helping the racist cause. We live in a racist country and people need to talk about it."
They cut my interview without telling me, and when my mom and my kids and I tuned in at the appointed hour, there was another advice columnist saying mild and agreeable stuff about the holidays. That's when I personally woke the fuck up and realized that if the so-called good guys absolutely refuse to say 'controversial' words out loud, then the so-called good side will always fail.
I would buy that shirt!!! One of my favorite things that happened “in the before days” when then Mayor of New Orleans Mitch Landrieu giving a live speech in his city about removing Confederate statues (2017). His speech was basically a short history lesson with a side of “and you know I’m telling the truth so stop whining” but he was polite and kind and empathetic. This is how we need to be speaking in families and communities and schools and universities and family functions. It’s not always gonna go well but it will go well more than they want us to believe.
Yes, thank you for this analysis. I heard a great conversation a few weeks ago between Naomi Klein, Chenjerai Kumanyika, Astra Taylor, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and that was one of the themes -- that we've got a counter revolution happening without the full or even partial realization of the actual revolution. So painful.
the "American" way since the Civil War: tell white supremacy it wasn't really that reprehensible and it didn't really lose when it is and it did.
This is a strategy as old as rhetoric, stretching back a couple thousand years: Whomever wins the battle of naming wins the battle of framing and thus the argument. Is it a riot or a protest? Is it leveling the playing field or providing unfair advantages to the undeserving? Is it addressing centuries of ongoing harm, or lowering standards? Is it making white folks feel bad for "things from the past that aren't their fault," or simply telling historical truth (and current) truth? People prefer to hear what's not going to make them feel bad. The battle is getting them to move past that. We have to keep building and understanding of injustice and a recognition that combating it is an ongoing struggle.
Keep building an understanding of injustice--exactly.
Love this post, and now I want to make t-shirts that say WOKER THAN EVER, BITCH. Yeah surely this white woman's t-shirt will save the world.
I've been railing about script-flipping in completely ineffective ways for years, and I love the far-more-effective ways you express that, thanks to the miseducation of Americans, naming is all you need to persuade people, no argument necessary. I remember when Kaepernick kneeled, then Trump called it unpatriotic, then the media repeated, "Is kneeling during the anthem unpatriotic?" instead of "Is Trump a racist?" or "Is racism patriotic?" or "Is patriotism racist?"
A year later when hundreds of players were kneeling, I was invited to talk about holiday etiquette on NPR's All Things Considered. The last question: "Even football is controversial these days! How should people visiting their families handle it?" I said, "If your uncle says those guys kneeling are unpatriotic, you need to tell him those people are protesting racist violence, and when he willfully misunderstands them, he's helping the racist cause. We live in a racist country and people need to talk about it."
They cut my interview without telling me, and when my mom and my kids and I tuned in at the appointed hour, there was another advice columnist saying mild and agreeable stuff about the holidays. That's when I personally woke the fuck up and realized that if the so-called good guys absolutely refuse to say 'controversial' words out loud, then the so-called good side will always fail.
I would buy that shirt!!! One of my favorite things that happened “in the before days” when then Mayor of New Orleans Mitch Landrieu giving a live speech in his city about removing Confederate statues (2017). His speech was basically a short history lesson with a side of “and you know I’m telling the truth so stop whining” but he was polite and kind and empathetic. This is how we need to be speaking in families and communities and schools and universities and family functions. It’s not always gonna go well but it will go well more than they want us to believe.