I wanted to use today’s post and talk about a profoundly upsetting experience.
Without divulging too much information, imagine a network of at least 10,000+ people (mainly men), who are at least college-educated and have a post-graduate degree, occupying every single aspect of our lives, but primarily decision-makers and management.
Such a network primarily communicates via that a discussion board. Ordinarily, topics are benign. For example, I’d love to hear from you if you ever worked in Ecuador. Or please fill out this survey.
The tone of exchange is civilised, respectful and productive.
It’s a network that is not owned by its participants but whose value is largely driven by the quality of participation. There is no shortage of participation, so no one is indispensable.
Recently, a topic about the legitimacy of LGBTQ+ rights arose, which quickly became straight up hate speech. What’s surprised me is how fine the line is between white supremacy and white privilege.
The white supremacist is highly eloquent and weaves a hate-filled, bigoted, xenophobic narrative using one or two arguments.
The very nature of the topics they may raise (e.g., feminism, white privilege, LGBTQ+) invokes outrage. Folks go to great lengths to justify their fundamental right to exist, which only encourages the white supremacist.
The white supremacist knows not an iota of empathy or emotional intelligence. I looked up the meaning of sociopath (a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviour) and said white supremacist fits this description.
I feel so much shame that I belong to a community that is failing to defend the rights of others.
Perhaps I am too harsh on myself and others? Possibly.
Covid-19 has accelerated change that would have previously taken decades to accomplish: Juneteenth is a perfect and recent example of this.
In the West, we are more willing to acknowledge past injustices and less inclined to tolerate intolerance.
We don’t have the answers to everything: and what is self-evident is it will get messy, unpredictable and insanely uncomfortable, but there is no going back.
We haven’t figured out all the answers, and yes, all societies cannot progress at the same pace. However, I would like to believe that the road of tolerance and humanity we are creating is here to stay.
But in the process, let us not underestimate the white supremacists’ persistence and bigotry and let us not be afraid to act.
My community’s platform will defend freedom of speech – but its a private organisation which can and should put limits on the privilege of its members.
We will not let white supremacists stand on our shoulders to deliberately set our house on fire.