Someone on Fark posted a very nice argument about specifically why white/cis/male “pride” movements are dangerous and distinct.
You’re ignoring that we’re talking about movements and organized ideology, not singular statements.
White pride is a supremacist ideology. Black pride is not. One has been ahead for centuries, and seeks to further distance itself by advocating for how much better they are. The other is trying to pull even with the advantaged group and end systematic oppression. The ultimate goal of black pride is equality. The ultimate goal of white pride is supremacy and continued advantage over others.
Straight and male pride ideologies have are similar goals to white pride. This isn’t a difficult concept. Organized ideologies and movements make sense for those that have a historical and current gap in their societal standing. When an advantaged group creates a parallel pride movement, they are attempting to sustain and expand their already substantial advantage.
Along the same lines, one of the main issues with white “pride” groups, or “white lives matter” groups or what have you is that they don’t seem to get the point of the equivalent black groups either. Well, okay, some of them (the leaders, usually) do get the point and are being racist assholes about it and others seem to be just not paying attention as to what these groups really are about. I’m not going to say which percentage is racist vs. clueless as I’m not sure that can be determined.
Too many people (I’m giving them the “clueless” benefit of the doubt here for the sake of discussion – racist assholes don’t need any thing more said about them) don’t seem to get that “Black Lives Matter” isn’t about saying that black lives matter more than other lives, it’s saying that “we’re tired of innocent/non-violent black people being killed by cops who then get away with it.” I once saw an argument that a better name for the movement would be something like “Black Lives Matter Too,” as that would possibly blunt any so-called reverse racism accusations against the movement, but that ship has already sailed.
Another interesting note with respect to “pride” movements is that there are already more benign “pride” movements that white people can belong to. I mean throughout the country you’ll find Italian pride groups, Irish pride groups, German pride groups, etc., where people can celebrate and be proud of their respective ethnicities in benign ways (food festivals, parades, block parties, etc.). Black people, by and large, don’t have that luxury due to slavery. You don’t see any “Zulu pride” groups or “Igbo pride” groups (to name a couple of African ethnic groups) or anything else like that because most African Americans can’t trace their ancestries back to Africa the way most white people can. The only “ethnicity” they really have is “Black,” AKA “African American,” and that’s all they can really celebrate.
Nowadays, even with DNA testing being able to determine which part of Africa someone’s ancestors may come from (LeVar Burton, for example, was able to trace his to modern day Nigeria), slavery has so culturally divorced them from their ancestors that, again, it’s not like the direct ties a lot of white people have to their ancestral homelands and cultures.
So I’m almost done with a biography of Huey Long, probably the most detailed and extensive biography I’ve read of any person, and I keep remembering I said this and it’s bugging me how wrong I was. Historians like to charge that his Share Our Wealth program would have nationalized the economy, which is true to a degree, but it’s a huge leap from that statement to the idea that he would have created a fascist state like Germany or Italy. The political mechanics of the machine he set up in Louisiana are nothing like the political mechanics installed by Mussolini and Hitler. Namely, it was designed to outlive Huey Long. Long was severely corrupt and created an unstoppable political machine to keep his men in power, but it never made significant changes to the State Constitution that dictated the rules of the democracy. Normalcy was restored in Louisiana a number of years after Long’s assassination and I think had he been elected President we can project that a similar result would have occurred. Furthermore, Long would never have aligned himself with the Axis powers. He was dedicated to immigrants and sympathetic to blacks, being one of the first Southern politicians of the 20th century to do so.
What Huey Long does prove is that in the depths of the Great Depression America was ripe for a charismatic leader who used questionable means to get to an end that benefited them, which could’ve been someone genuinely dictatorial instead of moderately tyrannical. Had a demagogue aligned with the fascist streak building in the moneyed parts of America risen instead, we could have easily seen a transformation into a fascist state.
All the charges got dropped against the people that took down the statue here in Durham NC last fall.
Based on what a friend that was at the court house said it was basically ruled that there was insufficient evidence because most of the video / picture footage wasn’t admissible. I suspect that was actually just to avoid having to rule on anything else but not a bad outcome.
I still say that even if they were found guilty, the only appropriate penalty was community service in the form of cleaning up any mess left behind from taking down the statue.
I just realized the only person I know who joined the Stormcloak Rebellion in Skyrim turned into a Nazi and it’s really impacting how I think about that game.
Having played as a Dark Elf in Morrowind & Oblivion I was a bit more sensitive to the whole race in the Elder Scrolls games than someone who didn’t. I first thought that the Imperials were being a bit fascist but when I got to talk to the stormcloaks it was rapidly apparently that they were crazy racists. Then again I’m the type of guy who talks to everyone and explores a bit before making a decision.
I feel like in the ES games they like to make sure that any dichotomies they have in the game are not so black and white.
I’m pretty sure the original story, of when DeAndre Harris was originally arrested for defending himself against a bunch of white supremacists, was posted in this forum. His case finally went before a judge and he was aquitted of all charges.
“A black man brutally beaten at last year’s white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville — and who was later charged with assaulting a white nationalist — was acquitted Friday.”
I remember this. The story originally was something to the effect of, some white supremacist was friends with a pseudo-judge (magistrate I think) and because of that was able to get an arrest warrant put on Mr. Harris.
I guess this is the system working as intended since he got off no problem still, that magistrate should be… well not a magistrate anymore at the very least.
It is a state job you apply for like a normal job. I actually applied to be a magistrate, there are no state laws about qualifications. Localities set their own standards though most require a bachelor’s degree at the bare minimum and prefer J.D.'s. or at the very least a very experienced paralegal. I am told a lot of them are people who have their J.D. but haven’t passed the bar or found an actual lawyer job yet, but in some places there are magistrates who are Sheriff Billy Bob’s second cousin who needs a job.
