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#Post#: 9090--------------------------------------------------
Foppery
By: 90sRetroFan Date: September 27, 2021, 10:43 pm
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This article really resonated with my own experiences:
HTML https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/19/no-more-white-saviours-thanks-how-to-be-a-true-anti-racist-ally
[quote]I had been doing anti-racism work long before the summer
of 2020, so I didn’t understand why – increased volume aside –
some of these interactions felt so different to the usual
business inquiries I receive. I felt there was such a sense of
ownership over me, my time, my words, what I should talk about
and when. The more boundaries I put up, the more they would
trample over them.
Not only huge volumes of emails and requests to “quickly pick my
brain”, but also WhatsApp and text messages from friends and
colleagues (some I hadn’t heard from in years). They weren’t
checking in to see how I was. They were using me as a priest at
confession, to whom they could start offloading their own sins
and shame about racism.[/quote]
I had extremely similar encounters back in the years when we
used contact forms to interview prospective volunteers, and this
is the main reason why we eventually shut down that system.
I have always asked for only two things: what
skills/knowledge/resources the sender was offering us, and
whether they had a project to suggest. Instead, 99% of the
senders insisted on telling me the story of their lives in as
much detail as possible (as if I would care). And somehow,
despite the autobiography, they still manage to fail to tell me
what their skills/knowledge/resources are, let alone suggest a
project. Well, I thought, at least the autobiography shows they
can write lengthy prose. But when I ask them to try writing an
actual article about a particular subject (unrelated to
themselves), they stop replying.
[quote]When one white woman didn’t get an immediate response
from me, her tone mutated from the previous “with love and
light” signoff to telling me my activism was “bullshit”. Another
flooded my Instagram DMs to “find out” if I had received her
email. When she didn’t get an immediate reply, she went through
my followers list and contacted a mutual colleague, asking if
she could hurry things along.
There was a distinct and clear difference between the intention
behind these kinds of interactions and the usual inquiries:
these were self-serving. This was a stage performance, a way to
manage their perception, so their ego could feel better about
all that’s wrong in the world.
Many came swooping in with a freshly ironed superhero cape, it
having only just occurred to them that they, too, could do
something about racism.[/quote]
Yep, I got those too: those who weren't even volunteering at
all, but come in to tell me what content I should include on the
site next. I always respond: why don't you produce it? If I like
the look of what you have produced, I will add it. They stop
replying. In their minds, because they like the look of what I
have already produced, I have to do all the subsequent work that
they (who have produced nothing) think needs to be done.
[quote]What we really need white people to do is consciously,
consistently and intentionally unlearn racism. It’s no secret
that shame and guilt go hand in hand with unlearning racism –
but you can’t do this work in any meaningful, or truthful way
without experiencing these feelings at some point and you will
consistently feel uncomfortable. Trying to do anti-racism work
while remaining comfortable, to actively avoid confronting
feelings, is just not possible.[/quote]
I just need them to voluntarily refrain from reproducing. It is
much easier.
[quote]Performative allyship has very little to do with reducing
harm to Black folk and ending systems of oppression. It happens
when you want to skip to the end bit. Performative allyship is
leaping from half-listening, straight into action.
...
There’s an impulsive desire to fix, to be the hero of the story,
to swoop in and rescue and, for some, it also comes from a place
of superiority and/or a desire to be forgiven. It feeds into
something called the “White Saviour Industrial Complex” – a term
first coined by Harvard professor and novelist Teju Cole in
2012. “White Saviour Industrial Complex is not about justice,
it’s about having a big emotional experience that validates
privilege… There is much more to doing good work than ‘making a
difference’. There is the principle of first do no harm. There
is the idea that those who are being helped ought to be
consulted over the matters that concern them,” explains Cole.
...
Being an ally means being able to recognise this. To me, an ally
is a person who advocates and works alongside the Black
community, who uplifts communities for a shared common goal
driven solely by the cause – not so that they can look good.
[/quote]
Then there were those who, when asked for their skills, boasted
to me at length about their psychic powers or communion with
supernatural beings. I told them to use their psychic powers
and/or order the supernatural beings to assassinate Netanyahu.
They stopped replying.
[quote]anything worthy of seismic change will not happen without
discomfort, consistency and a whole heap of courage.[/quote]
The only volunteer who demonstrated all these qualities:
HTML https://authenticamericandream.blogspot.com/
[quote]If someone is in any doubt, they should ask themselves:
am I acting because it’s the right thing to do, to centre the
needs of others, or am I doing this for myself, to feel better
and make myself look good?[/quote]
#Post#: 9098--------------------------------------------------
Re: Foppery
By: guest55 Date: September 28, 2021, 12:01 pm
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Well, if there's any truth to this:
[quote]Even though most people believe they are self-aware, only
10-15% of the people we studied actually fit the
criteria.[/quote]
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/human-evolution/consciousness-cannot-have-evolved/
It would at the least explain why most people seem to be ego
driven primarily. This is why I've been exploring the idea of
strapping Westerners to chairs and ramming fistfuls of
psychedelic mushrooms down their throat's hoping for the best as
a last ditch attempt at finding some humans buried deep down in
their psyches, in this thread:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/ancient-world/gnosticism/
:D
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