There are probably two points I should make about
yesterday's not comfortable with racism but still passionately anti-globalist
tweeter. The first is that he is in the UK. That means that he
may be seeing different news coverage than we do here, and a lot of the
coverage may be influenced by the lead-in and aftermath to the Brexit vote.
The other thing is that he recently made a movie
that was filmed in seventeen countries by getting the help of other people.
That initially sounds like someone who would be very into globalism, except I
guess that they are all staying in their respective countries.
I do not automatically rule out that there can be
legitimate concerns about globalization and immigration, which seems to be the
bigger concern among those who mention globalization. I also cannot be blind to
the history of ostracizing and blaming immigrants for things that were not
their faults. It's been something that has worked very well for the rich -
immigrants provide a cheap labor pool for the capitalists to exploit and a
scapegoat for social problems caused by their greed. Convenient.
The scapegoating shouldn't work so easily. For
example, some people raise security concerns about accepting refugees, but if
you look at both the current vetting process and how many incidents that happen
come from people who are already citizens, it should fall apart. That it
doesn't is - I believe - a result of deeply ensconced prejudices. Often it is
racism, but it could be simply Anglocentrism. That those prejudices are part of
a structure that enfolds sexism and ableism is not a coincidence.
Let me jump over to two other things that I was
reading last week. One was about the toll the news is taking on some survivors
of harassment and assault. They see the automatic attempts to discredit the
survivors' accounts, and the power structure, and it brings back the memories
and the feelings of that time.
Two of the women affected by that are women that I
admire a lot. They are so smart, and well-read and deep-thinking. They are
hard-working and creative. They were very valuable, until they were women of
color accusing a white man who was a prominent feminist of abuse. Then they
were targeted and harassed and abused by a lot of people instead of just the one.
One of the recipients of the abuse posted this
article:
Having read about the Black Panthers and AIM not
that long ago, it resonated. In the case of one of the Black Panther examples
and the RNC protester examples, what stands out is the increase in violence.
The spy who is supposed to be discovering criminal activity is actually causing
it. This can destroy an organization pretty effectively, hurting the image,
tarnishing the message, and getting members jailed.
You don't have to be a provocateur to bring a group
down. Being a misogynist in an anti-racism group can be enough. Looking down on
women of color and valuing them less in a feminist group can be enough. Working
for gay rights, but snubbing the members of color or lesbians or bisexuals or
holding onto transphobia can be enough.
It happens all the time. I have seen volunteer
organizations go through terrible rivalries and turnover, with deeply dedicated
people hurt and alienated, and that was just for dog adoption. The issue was
still that some people need to exert power over others. Because our society is
built on a foundation where the ability to oppress and dominate is often
related to race and gender and sexuality, it makes it easy to bring out the
worst in us.
It should have been easy for members in the
infiltrated groups to turn down the suggested violence. "No. That's not
what we're about. That's not how we are doing things." But it is easy to
give in to people who are taking charge, and who are higher up in the
kyriarchy. In the same way, it can be very hard to challenge them when it
appears they are being abusive, and support the victims. It is very easy to
tell people whose needs are not being met that they have to wait because this
other thing is more important. It's easy to say by going against him, you are
damaging us, instead of examining the damage caused by the rotten core.
That's how we sell our souls, except, it's not a
clear transaction for a lot of people. Sometimes it's just a continual numbing
when you choose the path of least resistance and shun the thing that makes you
feel uncomfortable. The more privilege you have, the easier it is to do.
I do not claim to have all of the answers. I do
believe that if we are holding on to having superiority against one group, or
blaming everything on one group, it corrupts us. It gets us into bed with vile
people. You can lose your sensitivity to what is vile. It has been happening
all along.
If your revolution isn't intersectional, it's crap.
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