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Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: June 21st, 2023
  • massacre@lemmy.worldtoNews@lemmy.world•Theft or civil disobedience? 16 volumes go missing after Shelbyville church urges members to check out, never return library books about LGBTQ+ peopleEnglish
    12·
    3 months ago

    Let me give a reality check here… First, calling me outraged is pretty humorous. Second, it does diminish real hate crime and you make yourself insufferable by saying otherwise.

    Winning over the public is an important part in the fight for equity. If you go to your average person and say lynching a person of color with a burned cross on the front yard is a hate crime and then in the same breath say that “stealing hymnals from a predominantly POC congregation” is a hate crime, you’re going to lose people. Quickly. Your average mainly conservative who hears this will probably make snide remarks about being Social Justice Warriors or the like. Making distinctions is what we do, words matter, and we have to pick our battles.

    Stealing from a library with intent is a crime. Keeping LGBTQ kids from learning more about themselves is certainly hate oriented (and/or repression, ignorance and self-hatred). So by your black and white rules it’s technically a hate crime (I don’t disagree with the technicality here, BTW and said that in another comment elsewhere). But these are simply not at the same level. The world is nuanced and full of gray. You can get into all the semantics you have above about legal vs. layperson comments, yadda yadda… in the end, in the real world you lose people who could have been allies and your average person DOES speak with legal frames of reference. REAL allies who vote and support when they see heinous crimes called out. If you lash out at every perceived micro aggression and annoyance as one grouped level of hate, in the real world you’ll lose your audience because you’re saturating them with noise.

    I’m not using any oppresor’s arguments here. This is simple reality. It holds true across a massive spectrum of life. And you can be as juvenile as you want by sticking to your unthinking dogma “all hate is hate” and meanwhile, you’ll erode the good will you have and lose what you could have had if you focused down real damage to those you support. Countering this sort of idiotic bible thumping hatred was the point of my first post, BTW - as in “how can we cheekily make their annoying and stupid hate turn against them” because it’s a minor infraction. It still bears paying attention to (which ultimately is probably what you’re trying to convey?) but it doesn’t bear the same level of language or response. Simple as that.

    P.S., I plan on running this conversation by some friends who happen to be a gay married couple and expect some giggles at both the original theft and your naivete. And I’m utterly unconcerned that someone won’t find me and ask for my support because of this. You know why? I make it clear who I support and what I do through my actions. In fact, I would support them and tell them to pick their battles and choose their words carefully so they can have a positive impact.