Read on Twitter
I know this'll get me tarred & feathered but… when you talk to people on the right, many of them don't think they're being white supremacists or fascists. They believe Trump's lies about election fraud, & are basing behaviors on that belief. They think they're saving democracy.
They also hear the left calling everyone fascists and think the left is under some sort of wild delusions, because they look around and see concerned patriots like themselves.
I hate to say it but being all "fuck fascists" right now just digs us further into this divide.
I hate to say it but being all "fuck fascists" right now just digs us further into this divide.
Their support of Trump may be because he's not a career politician, he's against bureaucracy or whatever, and they believe his cons about being a good businessman.
Of course, their acceptance of all the racist crap is compliance, but to them, it's a blind spot. It's not overt.
Of course, their acceptance of all the racist crap is compliance, but to them, it's a blind spot. It's not overt.
Because they are fully entrenched in the dominant culture of white supremacy, they don't see their acceptance of this culture as racist. They think racist means directly doing bad actions themselves, which many of them have never done. So they say "I'm not racist" & not fascist.
Now pile on top of that the right wing media which layers on fear-based propaganda about how "the left" is going to take your guns, stifle your freedom of speech, raise your taxes, regulate your freedom away, and eventually you get … right where we are today.
These people are scared. They see themselves as concerned patriots fighting for democracy, revolting against an oppressive radical left elite-run establishment that they think has rigged an election and includes mass media and half of government.
If we have to live with one another, if we have any chance of healing & unifying as a nation, if we have any chance of working together to actually build a society that allows us all to thrive, we need to start by understanding how the other side sees themselves & work from there
To be clear, I'm talking about the average citizens here, those who go along with the movement. Not the leaders, the ones inciting the violence in the first place or driving deliberate disinformation. Those folks are being manipulative & need to be held accountable.
We need to keep educating each other about what it means to be complicit in a dominant culture. That racism can be implicit, even while not intended or even conscious. We need to be extremely clear about what is tolerable without being drawn into an insult-trading shoutfest.
I mean feel free to shout and insult to blow off steam, I'm not one to say what you can & can't do, I'm just saying what needs to happen if we want to be effective in moving on from this mess in a way that brings unity & builds a society where everyone thrives.
