Balloons & Millstones
Based on a conversation with my spouse, please consider the following, fellow white liberals:
You cannot lift the millstone off of your brother’s shoulder when you focus your conversation on how to take off this little balloon which is tied to yours. Does the string irritate your skin from time to time? Would you like to be freed from the slight irritation of that string, which you can choose to untie and leave in your house as long as you avoid people carrying around millstones on their shoulders?
Too bad. That’s a) not fair and b) kind of silly, isn’t it, when people are still being crushed by millstones?
Work on lifting the millstone off of your brother’s shoulder. If you ever get it lifted from his shoulder, that balloon will go away. You cannot center your discussions on how you, as a white person, can be freed from ‘being racist.’ You cannot be freed from 'being racist.’ You participate in a racist system. Until that racist system GOES AWAY, you cannot be freed from being racist.
And for GOD’S SAKE, why do you CARE? It’s a balloon. It’s not a millstone. The millstones are literally crushing other people and killing them.
Your balloon is not killing you. Live with it. You can.
26 comments
@KingOfRhye
The millstone appears to be institutional racism. Vaspider is centering his metaphor around a particular type of Social Justice (I will not say SJW. People think that "Triggered" is a buzzword, but compared to that it's unknown) that says that the violence marginalized groups suffer is so much larger than any racism perpetuated against white people, that they cannot be seriously compared. So Vaspider is saying, "White people, Rather than wonder about how you can stop being racist, why don't you help people suffering from racism, and break down racist systems. Quite a laudable sentiment, actually.
I imagine the "Fundie" part is the "You can't not be racist while you participate in a racist system" Which, you know, fair enough.
I don't see that much wrong with this statement. If we perceive racism as systemic then, yes, we do all participate in it. And being slightly worried about how you work within a racist system is petty compared to actually being the victim of its racist effects.
The balloon/millstone thing is kind of unnecessary as a metaphor. If anything, it makes the situation harder to understand.
@ Doubting Thomas
The simplest explanation I can write, given my limited abilities:
If we accept that we live in a society that is racist then it naturally follows that we are all complicit in the racism. Racism is not about whether you call your neighbor the N-word or whether you make N-word jokes at your all-white country club. It is part of the structure of our society. Things like access to housing or jobs (Studies show that having a supposedly white-sounding name will substantially increase your chances over someone with a black-sounding name. So you'd better be Abigail Whitfield rather than Shanice Washington).
If racism, rather than being person-to-person name calling, is seen as a larger, societal structure then we are all participating in it because we all participate in our society. It doesn't matter whether you or I are strongly anti-racist in person, we exist within a system that is racist and thus we are a part of it.
The point I think the OP is trying to get across, though not effectively, is that spending excessive time feeling defensive and introspective about our role in a racist system, and acting as if that is the biggest burden, is petty and diverts attention from the actual task of dismantling systemic racism.
Personally, I do think there should be time and space for people to be allowed to examine our roles in racist systems. But, generally, I agree it is right to give priority to dismantling racism and acknowledging its victims.
It's a bit dense and extremely chiding and arrogant, but neither fundie nor particularly incorrect.
That being said, vaspider is being an ass and should really consider how to be KIND as well as productive.
I think I know what this is. They've been whining for years that it's not wrong to BE racist, it's wrong to point it out, criticize it or any white attitudes for that matter. But since the nonsense of shit like that is so obvious (and an extension of the right wing "I can say whatever I want but if you ridicule it or point out the racism or elitism of it you're interfering with my free speech rights)
they continually are coming up with convoluted bullshit like vaspider.
"We can't stop being racist because you folk insist that's a thing." Only thing missing here is the 'good ole days' lament.
...meanwhile, what we have here with vasdeferens, is basically the equivalent of - after he spews his irrelevant arse gravy - being hit on the head with an oven-ready chicken by someone in a suit of armour. [/Monty Python]
Metaphors. You're doing it wrong.
Brain studies show that humans are more nervous when presented with a photo of a person that doesn't look like they do, versus one who does. In other words, a modicum of racism is hard wired into the self-preservation unit of our psyche. This is true of all races. The unenlightened (some of them) react on this trigger with resentment and belligerence. Some just use this vague feeling to help justify what they want to believe about other races. Layer on top of that an unfair system and you get tensions between the oppressed, and those who enjoy their unearned privileges and wish to continue doing so. Since our rulers maintain the status quo in large part by the adage, "divide and conquer," this social tension is encouraged despite lip service to the contrary.
In short, we're all racist, except when we're not (when we decide not to be). As to the OP, I will not take responsibility for the actions of my fellow hair-challenged apes. Also, "I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man with no feet." ... but I still have no shoes and that's still a problem, and so is reverse prejudice, if that's indeed what you're going on about.
Jesus said something about a mote in another's eye. His analogy made more sense, even if it was something of a tu quoque argument. To use another of Jesus' analogies, vaspider has tried to gild gold and paint the lily with his "millstone" stuff.
Summary of analogy:
Your minor irritation when institutional racism is criticized isn't really that bad compared to what institutional racism actually does to other people.
Or at least that's my interpretation. The parables in the New Testament are less convoluted than this.
vaspider needs to learn how to better present his arguments, but he isn't necessarily wrong.
If you have trouble understanding his "don't try not to be racist" screed, think of it as living in a society with a rampant, communicable disease: Would you you do the most good by trying not to propagate the disease yourself, or by changing societal hygiene practices to end the spread of the disease once and for all?
So he's saying 'don't worry about not being racist, because the system is racist anyway'?
If everyone tried to not be racist, then the "system" wouldn't be racist anymore, right?
@ breakerslion: I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet.
Then I stole his shoes because he was total dickbag when I asked to borrow his shoes and what does a footless guy need with a new pair of Adidas anyway, so screw him and everyone who looks like him. Besides, it's not like he could catch me anyway, he didn't have shoes OR feet. I'll mail them back anonymously when my new shoes come in.
I'm not sure what my point was either.
I can't. As long as people are suffering, I can't stop fighting for that. What you want is me to ignore my own suffering (as a white person) and focus all on you. I can do that. What I CAN fight for is so neither of us have anything on our shoulders. Why is that so hard to accept? What I'm most afraid some people want is to get rid of the millstone on black people's shoulders but keep the balloon on ours.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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