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My stepson, long estranged, just asked me “what’s even the point of #BlackHistoryMonth
?
Here was my attempt to open a dialogue with a very race-skeptical family member.
A
My stepson, long estranged, just asked me “what’s even the point of #BlackHistoryMonth
? Here was my attempt to open a dialogue with a very race-skeptical family member.
A
Othering people and groups for arbitrary reasons is human nature. It happens everywhere in the world and all throughout history. You can't erase it. But it's also a cancer that, if allowed to normalize across a society, ultimately and inevitably leads to mass murder /2
. I have a particular set of experiences in this area, having grown up in Germany, and having worked in Bosnia during the genocide of the 90s.
Our particular favorite flavor of othering here in the US is anti-blackness. But, other than the target, it's no different than
/3
Our particular favorite flavor of othering here in the US is anti-blackness. But, other than the target, it's no different than
/3
any other version anywhere else.
Othering is basically a status play, elevating the dominant in-group over the out-group. It's a way of making the in-group feel superior without having to actually do anything other than be the dominant group.
/4
Othering is basically a status play, elevating the dominant in-group over the out-group. It's a way of making the in-group feel superior without having to actually do anything other than be the dominant group.
/4
Othering has a pretty predictable pattern of taking root and hold over time. It goes from marginalized to mainstream and from derision to murder.
It starts (seemingly) harmlessly enough with jokes and stereotypes that frame the accepted perception of the out-group.
/5
It starts (seemingly) harmlessly enough with jokes and stereotypes that frame the accepted perception of the out-group.
/5
Pollack jokes, for example, all rest on the idea that Poles are just inherently stupid and silly.
When perceptions take over reality, it gives a permission structure to escalate. Less than, ultimately, becomes less human.
/6
When perceptions take over reality, it gives a permission structure to escalate. Less than, ultimately, becomes less human.
/6
The reason for Black History Month is to help people see a historically oppressed out-group as fully human and fully worthy of dignity and respect, pushing those othering influences back to the margins where they can be prevented from destroying a society.
/7 end
/7 end
