One of the problems of what I am for now going to call accountability culture (because it stretches far beyond call outs) is that it makes doing nothing or silently withdrawing the safe option.
We’ve made being accountable into a terrifying and humiliating and very public experience, so logically most people avoid it at all cost, which can create a kind of ‘always playing it safe’ approach.
If someone gets called out, cutting them out of your life is always going to be safer than deciding to help them change and having to defend that you’re still spending time with them.
If an organization abuses power, walking out makes sure you are not complicit, but also means there is one less conscientious person in that organization willing to stop the process.
If you never stand by people who experience a different kind of oppression than you, you can at least be sure never to be a ‘bad ally’.
If you keep your head down, you won’t have to be accountable for anything. If you withdraw at the first sign of ‘problematic’ things, you won’t have to be accountable for anything. If you never do the difficult work of trying to fix a messy situation, you won’t have to be accountable for anything. If you never make anything your responsibility, you won’t have to be accountable for anything.
This encourages a passive attitude where we care more about not being part of a problem than about solving the problem.
If we want to actually solve problems, demanding public displays of ‘accountability’ shouldn’t be our go-to measure for any kind of flawed behavior. We need more space for making mistakes and for the struggle within the messy complicit processes of change. The willingness to engage in imperfect change should be acknowledged as a good thing. Passiveness and treating others as disposable to stay out of all controversy shouldn’t be rewarded.
QueerAnarchism 