I think we need to be careful to hold two things in mind with the murder of Renee Good by ICE:
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I think we need to be careful to hold two things in mind with the murder of Renee Good by ICE:
- yes, this has *been* happening. Murder by government thugs is not new in this country. People are just more shocked when it's a blonde white lady
- yes, it actually IS good that people are shocked, &—if they weren't awake to this already—we WANT them to be shocked.It is good to educate folks about what has been happening, BUT don't undercut the powerful emotion that is stirring people up.
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Let's try to not make it seem like we're saying "yeah, yeah, people get murdered all the time, no biggie."
I know that some folks are dealing with the frustration & anger of "so NOW you care, when it's a white lady??" Valid feelings.
But here's the thing: if someone is really feeling it today, feeling what a waste it is for this woman to die, feeling rage at the people who created the conditions for this to happen, don't step on that rage. Help them feel it. Help them process how awful it is.
If this moment fills someone with grief & outrage: good. We're trying to get people to *expand* their empathy, right? So encourage them to get in their feelings. Encourage them to be angry. Encourage them to feel how unacceptable this death was.
You WANT people to learn to feel it. You want them to feel this grief, this fury. They need to learn to feel it MORE, not LESS. They need to feel this. They need to learn to look around & see & feel the hidden violence they have been trained to ignore.
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I think we need to be careful to hold two things in mind with the murder of Renee Good by ICE:
- yes, this has *been* happening. Murder by government thugs is not new in this country. People are just more shocked when it's a blonde white lady
- yes, it actually IS good that people are shocked, &—if they weren't awake to this already—we WANT them to be shocked.It is good to educate folks about what has been happening, BUT don't undercut the powerful emotion that is stirring people up.
Let's try to not make it seem like we're saying "yeah, yeah, people get murdered all the time, no biggie."
I know that some folks are dealing with the frustration & anger of "so NOW you care, when it's a white lady??" Valid feelings.
But here's the thing: if someone is really feeling it today, feeling what a waste it is for this woman to die, feeling rage at the people who created the conditions for this to happen, don't step on that rage. Help them feel it. Help them process how awful it is.
-
P Pteryx the Puzzle Secretary shared this topic
