“this [person from marginalized group] is telling you something, just listen. don’t question it, don’t defend yourself. you’re wrong no matter what.”
here’s what’s wrong with that
people still have to think for themselves and apply critical thought to what they’re told even if all they want is to be a good ally
what if two [people from marginalized group] tell me exact opposite things, how do i decide which one of them is right? how do i even know i should be listening to either of them and not [person from privileged group] instead? at some point i had to arrive at the conclusion that i want to be an ally and that didn’t happen by mindlessly believing what i’m told
you aren’t promoting good allyship you just want people to shut up and agree with you and that’s not quite the same thing
Yep.
We all fuck up. It’s part of being human. And when it comes to analysing the impact of oppression in our lives we have a lot more insight than people who have never experiences that oppression but we can still be wrong.
And well, another part of being human is that our intentions can be fucked up too. Some of us want to be seen doing big public call outs to be considered a good activist. Some of us fall for the temptation of being able to shut people up as a way of getting a tiny bit of payback from all the hurt that has been done to us. Some of us go beyong that and manage to warp call outs into a big manipulative powertrip that allows us to control social scenes.
So yeah, ‘I’m oppressed so I’m right’ is a shitty argument and a red flag for manipulation. To share an old quote:
If someone’s arguments aren’t adding up, automatically expecting that
they’re acting in the interests of all oppressed people simply as a
result of being oppressed is wrong. […] Being victimized, or having been
victimized, doesn’t automatically give you wisdom, and it sure as hell
doesn’t teach you kindness.
And I’ve said it before: you can not be an ally to all people in a marginalized community, you are always an ally to a movement.
I’m a transgender anarchist who strongly believes abolishing cops makes us safer. Someone else is a transgender cop who thinks they’re changing the world by being a transgender cop. It is impossible to be an ally to both of us. If you agree with whichever trans person is in the room, you’re not an ally, you’re a doormat and I have no use for you as a fake comrade.
Less doormats, more comrades.
QueerAnarchism 