I had a bunch of shit written. Links, quotes. Doesn't matter. Here's the meat. My position: you cannot affect positive change via antagonism. Your position: unintentional antagonism isn't antagonism. I think we can both agree that you didn't mean offense. We might even agree that you created offense. Problem is, you don't see why I keep harping on that offense because, well, that's not the subject at hand. It is, though. Consider: you entered this discussion by implicating all of "White America" in callous indifference to the suffering of African Americans. You doubled down by informing mk that a solution was "literally not possible". So I'm the dumbass for trying to engage; I knew it was gonna be an uphill slog but I didn't expect to spend four exchanges explaining why "where you claim to stand" is an antagonistic way to restate someone's argument. If there's one thing to hear, it's this: when someone is asking for a concrete, right-now action item, burying a list of social media action groups nebulously arrayed around racial justice in Paragraph (2) Subsection (c) is the wrong way to do it. Particularly when Paragraph (2) Codicil (1) is "I don't believe you aren't racist." 'cuz they won't hear it. And they won't engage again, either. I'm just as outraged about police brutality as I was this morning. But I'm never going to engage about it on here ever again. If the simple act of expressing solidarity is gonna force me to defend myself, I'll skip it, thanks. And if you want to know why this stuff disappears from the media, there's a clue; when the only thing "black people" want "white people" to do is "feel bad about it" there's a lot of incentive to move on to the roast of Justin Bieber.
It upsets me that you feel behooved to halt engagement on this topic and potentially others out of an instinct of self-preservation, of keeping the blood pressure low as my eighth grade social studies teacher puts it. Hopefully you only feel that way because of the heat of the moment, because I have questions! : ) For one, these actionable items for concerned white males: besides continual awareness expansion and civic engagement, what more can we do? (I mean that question seriously, I hope it doesn't read sarcastically.) And also, is it inappropriate for white males to come up with answers to that question? Is the domain of that question reserved only for minorities to answer? I ask this because I would normally feel pretty confident in my abilities to brainstorm and act but I've been brushing up close, through hubski and other avenues, with these new ideas of social justice, chiefly, that the white man stay back and simply make room for those historically dispossessed and disenfranchised. I guess my natural inclination to get my hands dirty is running into some really sophisticated ideas on how things should truly progress.I'm just as outraged about police brutality as I was this morning. But I'm never going to engage about it on here ever again. If the simple act of expressing solidarity is gonna force me to defend myself, I'll skip it, thanks.
This is the beginning of answering your question. People make a big deal out of the phrase "you can't solve the problem with the same tools that created it," or something to that effect. How can the resolution to these problems be led by the same people who created/benefit/exist in them by default? The primary engineers and architects have to come from among those who have been victimized. You have to follow the lead of the victim. Ultimately, while the while people are capable of complete empathy, empathy is not the equivalent of lived and living experience. If you cannot have complete understanding of these experiences (read: systemic racism, the problem), then you are likely not capable of defining what the solutions need to look like. So at the moment
And when the victimized (read: minorities) begun to push back and create spaces in which all of their humanity can be accepted, you should likewise assist them in the capacity you are able to. So when minorities band together to try and push political issues relevant to dismantling systemic racism, support them. Don't try an recenter the action around what you want to do because it isn't about what you want. It is, fundamentally, about what we want. Always welcome to reply and I hope I havent made you feel threatened. Apparently, I'm prone to do so when speaking on this. that the white man stay back and simply make room for those historically dispossessed and disenfranchised
For one, these actionable items for concerned white males: besides continual awareness expansion and civic engagement, what more can we do?
Is something you should absolutely continue to do in the best capacity you are able to.