George Floyd died in 2020, so the US said, "OMG!
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@mekkaokereke Rejection of "people different to me" is naturally rooted in our brains. Happens everywhere to everyone. Requires education to erradicate.
The US culture of racism, however, is very hard to understand for non-Americans.
@mbpaz I’m sadly not sure “education” actually helped. See all the propaganda campaigns about CRT and DEI. Basically educating about racism is racist to these people. And those in power started calling it identity politics and insisting we not talk about it anymore, especially right after the election. Non-Americans may not understand the specific iterations in the US but with xenophobia rising everywhere, this struggle connects us all
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George Floyd died in 2020, so the US said, "OMG! Racism is bad! We can change!"
In 2021, the US *talked about* some modest reforms.
In 2022 and 2023, white grievance against those reforms had reached fever pitch.
2024 saw record police funding, record cops killing Black people, and DEI rollback.
️That whole arc took less than 4 years, and the United States is now more racist than it was in 2019.
️US racism is incredibly durable and self-healing. The rules of engagement of US society, including who is allowed to criticize what systems, make it so that any meager gains can be clawed back.
In the moments after George Floyd, many people thought that the US had changed for the better, and changed for good.
But a lot of us older Black folk said to ourselves, "
OK! Now what durable improvements can we put in place before everyone goes back to business as usual?"We've seen this before.
My point is: Do not mistake temporary revulsion prompted by white people seeing what happened to Renee Good, for widespread opposition to the idea of ethnically cleansing the United States.
That would be a mistake.
You have a limited window to put any durable changes in place.
And prepare yourself emotionally for that pendulum to swing back.
Because if you are not prepared, it will smash you, and break your spirit.
Ironically: a lot of Black people were less emotionally devastated by the anti-civil rights swingback, because we knew it was coming.
️It's a long game.
@mekkaokereke <spoiler>what are some of the best ways of achieving durable change away from entrenched wrongs?</spoiler> -
George Floyd died in 2020, so the US said, "OMG! Racism is bad! We can change!"
In 2021, the US *talked about* some modest reforms.
In 2022 and 2023, white grievance against those reforms had reached fever pitch.
2024 saw record police funding, record cops killing Black people, and DEI rollback.
️That whole arc took less than 4 years, and the United States is now more racist than it was in 2019.
️US racism is incredibly durable and self-healing. The rules of engagement of US society, including who is allowed to criticize what systems, make it so that any meager gains can be clawed back.
In the moments after George Floyd, many people thought that the US had changed for the better, and changed for good.
But a lot of us older Black folk said to ourselves, "
OK! Now what durable improvements can we put in place before everyone goes back to business as usual?"We've seen this before.
My point is: Do not mistake temporary revulsion prompted by white people seeing what happened to Renee Good, for widespread opposition to the idea of ethnically cleansing the United States.
That would be a mistake.
You have a limited window to put any durable changes in place.
And prepare yourself emotionally for that pendulum to swing back.
Because if you are not prepared, it will smash you, and break your spirit.
Ironically: a lot of Black people were less emotionally devastated by the anti-civil rights swingback, because we knew it was coming.
️It's a long game.
Thought* I've been having lately is: fuck the pendulum, how do we move the •fulcrum•?
* Which I freely concede is likely more Clever than Insightful
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@mekkaokereke Rejection of "people different to me" is naturally rooted in our brains. Happens everywhere to everyone. Requires education to erradicate.
The US culture of racism, however, is very hard to understand for non-Americans.
It changes one's perspective to realize that the function of racism in the US is less social than it is about reinforcing the power structure.
The US is at core an extractive oligarchy; has been from the start.
Here are some thoughts that helped me understand:
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@mekkaokereke <spoiler>what are some of the best ways of achieving durable change away from entrenched wrongs?</spoiler>
Truth & reconciliation, as a start. This is something the US has never managed to implement, even after the Civil War, and we continue to pay for this lapse.
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George Floyd died in 2020, so the US said, "OMG! Racism is bad! We can change!"
In 2021, the US *talked about* some modest reforms.
In 2022 and 2023, white grievance against those reforms had reached fever pitch.
2024 saw record police funding, record cops killing Black people, and DEI rollback.
️That whole arc took less than 4 years, and the United States is now more racist than it was in 2019.
️US racism is incredibly durable and self-healing. The rules of engagement of US society, including who is allowed to criticize what systems, make it so that any meager gains can be clawed back.
In the moments after George Floyd, many people thought that the US had changed for the better, and changed for good.
But a lot of us older Black folk said to ourselves, "
OK! Now what durable improvements can we put in place before everyone goes back to business as usual?"We've seen this before.
My point is: Do not mistake temporary revulsion prompted by white people seeing what happened to Renee Good, for widespread opposition to the idea of ethnically cleansing the United States.
That would be a mistake.
You have a limited window to put any durable changes in place.
And prepare yourself emotionally for that pendulum to swing back.
Because if you are not prepared, it will smash you, and break your spirit.
Ironically: a lot of Black people were less emotionally devastated by the anti-civil rights swingback, because we knew it was coming.
️It's a long game.
@mekkaokereke Corporate and neocon interests have been using "Shock Doctrine" tactics like this for decades. Time the folks on the side of the angels (or at least the side of "let's reduce the amount of shittiness in the world") realize tactics are tools and using the other side's tactics is not an inherently bad thing.
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@mekkaokereke Even I, sheltered white suburbanite, can see it: racism is a key element of the rot.
& oligarchy is at the root of racism. Challenging racism challenges the power structure, & •everybody• has a vested interest in protecting their position. Untill & unless it becomes clear that equality/equity makes life better for •everyone• it's going to be a hard lift.
& for those in power, equality feels like repression, so....
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@dave @mekkaokereke I know, I'm European and we have a long history of killing each other, conquering and exploiting colonies to finance our wars. We have far right parties claiming evil Africans or Middle Easterns or latin Americans are coming for our jobs/money/whatever. Not so much insistence in looks and skin color, though.
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Truth & reconciliation, as a start. This is something the US has never managed to implement, even after the Civil War, and we continue to pay for this lapse.
@cavyherd @growfediverse @mekkaokereke Truth first, reconciliation only after they recognize and make a sincere apology for the harm they caused others and a promise to never behave that way again. Right now, reconciliation is not on the table nor should it be.
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@cavyherd @growfediverse @mekkaokereke It’s not so much the being wrong that bothers me; it is the action which results in people getting hurt and disruption of social, humanistic democracy. They can say whatever they want.
Frankly, I’m not at all interested in forgiveness for the fascists. Truth and justice — removal of the threat — must happen before there can be any form of toleration much less reconciliation.
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@cavyherd @growfediverse @mekkaokereke It’s not so much the being wrong that bothers me; it is the action which results in people getting hurt and disruption of social, humanistic democracy. They can say whatever they want.
Frankly, I’m not at all interested in forgiveness for the fascists. Truth and justice — removal of the threat — must happen before there can be any form of toleration much less reconciliation.
@meltedcheese @cavyherd @growfediverse @mekkaokereke I just want to highlight that "truth and reconciliation" isn't an arbitrary term but a formal international legal framework established by Desmond Tutu, so like, it feels more like everyone is muddying the waters to be emotional rather than helping coordinate toward real implementable actions?
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@cavyherd @meltedcheese @growfediverse @mekkaokereke I don't have the citation available but somewhere a Native legal scholar looked at what it would take for the US to even sign UN-DR of Indigenous Peoples, and it apparently would take a constitutional amendment that would need to change a BUNCH of stuff across our governance structure.
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