(no subject)
Jan. 7th, 2021 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppet(Cross-posting this over here, just in case I regret posting it on Tumblr.)
I’ve been thinking about the “This isn’t America!” thing since Joe Biden gave his speech denouncing the white supremacist terrorists who tried to stage a coup, and I’ve come to something of a conclusion.
Yes, this is definitely America. We’re a country built on stolen land by the labor of people we treated as property; the January 6th insurrection draws a direct line back to that same way of thinking. We must teach this more thoroughly in school, we must learn about and own our past; we cannot combat what we pretend doesn’t exist.
But it might still be a useful to say that this isn’t America, if only for the people who think the actions of those insurgents were justified. Like when someone tells a bigoted/harmful joke; nine of the ten people laughing might be doing so because they think it’s ridiculous, but the tenth person will be laughing because they think it’s true and everyone else agrees with them: Everyone else also pisses on their neighbor’s rosebushes out of spite, so it’s okay for them to continue to do so.
Claiming that the insurrection and other acts of white supremacy aren’t American isn’t a statement of fact, but it may still be worth saying in an attempt to reach people who would otherwise think it’s okay.
We can also treat it as a statement of aspiration. This may be America, but it isn’t the America we want to be.
Most importantly, though, is the message that the people who think this should be America are in the wrong.
I’ve been thinking about the “This isn’t America!” thing since Joe Biden gave his speech denouncing the white supremacist terrorists who tried to stage a coup, and I’ve come to something of a conclusion.
Yes, this is definitely America. We’re a country built on stolen land by the labor of people we treated as property; the January 6th insurrection draws a direct line back to that same way of thinking. We must teach this more thoroughly in school, we must learn about and own our past; we cannot combat what we pretend doesn’t exist.
But it might still be a useful to say that this isn’t America, if only for the people who think the actions of those insurgents were justified. Like when someone tells a bigoted/harmful joke; nine of the ten people laughing might be doing so because they think it’s ridiculous, but the tenth person will be laughing because they think it’s true and everyone else agrees with them: Everyone else also pisses on their neighbor’s rosebushes out of spite, so it’s okay for them to continue to do so.
Claiming that the insurrection and other acts of white supremacy aren’t American isn’t a statement of fact, but it may still be worth saying in an attempt to reach people who would otherwise think it’s okay.
We can also treat it as a statement of aspiration. This may be America, but it isn’t the America we want to be.
Most importantly, though, is the message that the people who think this should be America are in the wrong.
