Everytime a minority has an event that celebrates being free from persecution and oppression, an ignorant privileged person steps in with their bootstraps made from the exploitation of another human being and says : Black People Why don't we have White History Month? What about #WhiteLivesMatter? Why don't we have #whiteout day? Gay People : Why don't we have straight pride month? You don't see straight people shoving their sexuality down your throat! This is one of the most abhorrent and self-serving types of victim blaming. And the worst part about it is that they flip the script so that the minority looks prejudiced. Why do people do this?
I honestly have no idea. It's kind of stupid. 'Why can't we have White History month?' Well, if we have 200 years of white slavery first, then sure, why not? If the post has literally nothing to do with them, it's really not their place to try and make it about them. A lot of posts like this that I have seen have been completely peaceful posts, saying nothing derogatory about white/straight/etc people, yet they still choose to comment with something stupid like 'Oh, so white lives don't matter, then?' (Of course, there are some people online saying 'White people are all evil, racist assholes who need to die', 'Die, cis scum', etc, and fair enough if someone wants to call them out on that.)
people that are part of the oppressing group can't handle bein for once bein left out of shit. they have to make it all about them, and fuckin derail shit and keep bein willfully ignorant to their own privilege.
There seems to be this need for balance. They don't want to admit that there might be an imbalance. For example, with "white lives matter". They don't want to admit that it could be possible that black people are killed an inordinate amount by the police, so they bring up the "balance". "Well, white people are killed too!" "Straight people have troubles too!" There's nothing wrong with bringing up the other side if it is relevant, but sometimes it seems like its point is to shut up the original problem brought up. Yes, it's true that unarmed white people are killed by police officers too. But when you bring it up in a discourse about racism in the police against black people, it's like saying "everything's equal; there's no racism. Let's stop talking about it."
^what he said. It's a refusal to acknowledge the facts that are obvious. White people are oppressed, yes. But they are still at the very top of the pyramid, whilst blacks are very far down. This makes it plain to me that it's only fair to focus more on the oppression of black people. Keep on fighting, Zen! We'll see it through to overcome these disgusting inequalities one day. As long as we keep on fighting!
I agree with Tenny on this. It seems like people, specifically white people, have this mind set that just because the Civil Rights Movement happened that we're in a post-racist society, which we aren't. I really wish I knew why some white, cisgender, straight people insist on being included in everything when it isn't about them. Nobody is saying we're better than them because days like these exist. It isn't a pissing contest to say who has more bragging rights, but simple a time to show that we exist and we have meaning in a society and world where we're second class citizens. White people don't need "White History Month" because white people have persecuted millions of people and every day is just that because you're viewed as better (even on small levels) than someone who is POC and aren't going to be gunned down in the streets by police because they're white or get the shorter end of the stick from the justice system for it. Straight people don't need "Straight Pride Month" because being straight isn't a taboo, and nobody is rallying against them to revoke their human right to get married and be themselves--especially with how it's legal to be executed for being gay in seven countries. The same goes for "Cisgender Pride Month" or "Cisgender Remembrance Day", because you never hear about someone using the "Cis Panic Defense" in court to get away with murder or hear about cis people being denied housing or employment for being born in the right body. Jeez, I hate people like this who feel so entitled to making everything about them.
Privileged folks are so threatened by the current order of things being upset in any way, because that would mean losing their privilege. Or, they're just plain ignorant, hippy dippy, "why can't we all just get along?" sorta folks. They wanna act like someone else having pride in their differences automatically excludes them or puts them down, like white people that say "why not #WhiteOutDay?" for some reason think that appreciating black beauty means white people have none. Plus, every day is white out day, just look through a magazine. Every month is straight pride month. The most infuriating thing about privileged people that think this way is they don't understand WHY these pride things (for orientation or whatever else) exist--it's because of the persecution (casual, violent, or otherwise) oppressed people face every day at the hands of privileged groups. There's gay pride because straight folks made it their mission to make us feel ashamed. Some people just wanna be oppressed so damn bad lmao. ---------- Post added 11th May 2015 at 06:45 PM ---------- Exactly. Admitting there's an imbalance would mean checking their privilege, & a lot of folks are still unwilling to do that. They don't wanna see themselves/their groups as the bad guy. It's much easier for them to pretend the world is all sunshine & rainbows than it is to evaluate their own behavior & the faults of their environment.
I think it's because they either don't know what it's like to be part of a minority - or - they're part of a minority and refuse to acknowledge it for a variety of reasons.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that there is a subsection of marginalized groups that subscribe to the same line of thinking as the privileged institutions against them, for whatever reason.
I'd assume most whites, typically males, don't realize the various systems in place, that allow them an edge in life. Not knowing of these systems, any attack or mention of social or cultural problems is, instead, perceived as a direct assault on da wyte menz, instead of these systems. Huey Freeman explains one of those systems, the prison industrial complex: [YOUTUBE]15IzEQauBHU[/YOUTUBE] But what a lot of people overlook is, whites can be subject to discrimination. Those who live in so-called low-income areas, often times, are considered honorary minorities. Economic power is almost as make or break as race, and that so-called advantage becomes just a sliver. Interestingly, when you have the economic bottom of the barrel individuals compete, the non-whites often have a better chance at obtaining various scholarships, allowing them the educational chance to escape poverty. If a white individual has the money and the connections, sure, they're the majority. However that favoritism goes out the window, if somebody who is white isn't part of the middle class or above. It is tragic that where the races are most balanced, is near the bottom, and the further down you go the more indistinguishable they are to their governments. At least around here, and in America. I cannot really speak for the rest of the world. Just something to think about.
There is need for balance, there's now so many minorities that if you are in the perceived 'majority' you are in fact a minority. If you look at the National Union of Students in the UK (a rag tag collection of socialists living in a dream world with unrealistic and beyond ridiculous campaigns) you have women's officer, black officer, mature student officer, disability officer, LGBTQ+ officer and so on you arrive at the rather odd situation whereby if you are a white, straight, UK born male aged 18-25 you make up under a fifth of the student population. But you're 'just the rest'. So don't just see it as white people and straight people, it's every person who fits into that above category who is made to feel as if they're just 'another plain person', when everyone is unique and has their own history. People in minorities who get belligerent when a 'normal' person asks these perfectly reasonable questions only fuel a certain resentment which is not helpful for either cause.
That's a good point; people get so fixated on racial problems that they ignore the economic ones and then lower-income white people are glossed over because there are so many scholarships and benefits for non-white minorities, but none specifically for white people in the same situation. That's one of the problems I have with all the focus on minorities: it makes it seem like white males are some kind of "default", blank slate human being with nothing interesting about them and nothing worth being proud of. ALL ethnicities and demographics have things that are interesting and worth celebrating.
This is the proper ideal, but not the proper effect. Heterosexual, white, able-bodied males are the default in society. They are the standard of what we as a society imagine when we think of an individual. Regardless of race or ethnicity, when a modern human being picks up a piece of literature, we imagine the character as white and heterosexual by default. It doesn't matter whether the novel is set in a distance land or world. It doesn't matter if the story is about the past, present, or future. All of us do this regardless of whether we are conscious of it. This is because heterosexual, white, able-bodied individuals are the default in society. They are the standard of social image and beauty. That is an inarguable fact. The disconnect here is taking that to mean that they are considered "average". It is not that being the default incites a sense of being average; it incites a sense of being normal. Being standard individuals whose characteristics do not automatically define or type-cast them. When their race, sexuality, creed, or lack of disability does not cause people to view them strictly in one light, rather than as unique individuals. That is the effect of being seen as normal on a sociological level. Heterosexuals do not suddenly seem boring and insignificant as a result of the acceptance of LGBTQIA. Heterosexual are normal in that they are viewed as individuals beyond their sexuality. LGBTQIA are type-cast, oppressed, and defined by their sexuality. Being seen as normal is not the same as being seen as mundane. Being seen as normal is extremely beneficial on a sociological level. We dedicate positions in academia, the workplace, and government to working in the name of women, people of color, and gender and sexual minorities because there is something to work towards. While males in society do not need representative on diversity boards. They do not need legislation to ensure their acceptance or equality. They do not need others to spread awareness about their physical beauty or culture. Those are all the norm. Those are all the defaults. Those things are never questioned in society. There has never been a lack in terms of their representation, image, or influence in society.
Everybody thinks they are just "oh so important". Nobody cares, unless they can get something out of it. If they can't get anything out of it, they make fun of it.
My typical response: Other Person: "Why don't we have a straight pride event?" Me: "If you want one, organize one!" Silence... It's not like these events just fall out of the sky. People with those types of comments about race or sexual orientation completely miss the point that those minority celebrations were born from oppression and are symbolic of empowerment, progress, among others.