• petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 hours ago

    (making accusations of a group not reflecting the individuals of said group)

    Okay, I’ll try asking this again: What assumptions do you think black people make of white people when they code switch? Are these assumptions correct?


    I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere with this person, so, onlookers:

    You cannot use racism as a defense of your hurt feelings that women would choose the bear because your class is not being meaningfully harmed by what’s being said. You are not slaves. You are not being forced to build a railroad. No one is holding you in a camp. You are not being refused at the grocery store.

    People who do not want to be lynched do in fact make generalizations about other groups (*ahem*, white people) as a means of keeping themselves safe. It is simple risk aversion. You have learned the wrong lessons about what racism is and why it’s bad.

    • Instigate@aussie.zone
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      2 hours ago

      Thanks for elucidating the link clearly there; I can now see how it’s relevant to the discussion.

      Being that I’m not black, nor am I from the US, I wouldn’t want to assume what assumptions black people in the US make when code switching. I’m happy to be educated, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable assuming the intent of people with whom I don’t have a shared experience. That tends to be a recipe for misunderstanding.

      To be extremely clear, I was never challenging the core premise that the other commenter was trying to make. I even made mention that I did not disagree with the point being made. My intention was to suggest that the basis upon which the argument was being made was fallacious, and therefore open to be easily challenged or weaponised for purposes I’m sure the other commenter did not intend.

      I went so far as to suggest that the argument should be framed around the insidious nature of patriarchal hegemony as I personally believe that argument stands up to scrutiny in a far better way. Speaking about the lack of justice many women face in this regard and therefore having to choose to safeguard themselves is also a strong argument. Basing it upon the idea that generalisations can be made about populations and those within those populations to whom it doesn’t apply shouldn’t be upset by that is a very weak argument for the reasons I stated.

      I get the sense you might have misconstrued my intent - an understandable notion given that we’re communicating via text only - and might believe as though I have attempted to dismantle the argument entirely by falsely equating the experience of women with those experiencing racism. I do not wish to do so, as that would be a fallacy in and of itself. I merely tried to show that the reasoning used was clearly open to challenge and should be reflected upon.