The video footage of a needless murder of an arrested George Floyd emerged and people on all sides of the political spectrum were admitting it was time for police reform. A police reform bill was put forward by a Republican of African-American heritage, and it went nowhere because Democrats said it was not enough. Then those that held the editing power of the BLM website posted these lines which, ironically...marginalized hetero guys like George Floyd:
We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.
We build a space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism, misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.
We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).
[ See my full list of quotes and analysis here: Black Lives Matter "What We Believe" Translated ]
...and then the massive all summer long property violence with interviewed perpetrators saying "We built this country, we can tear it down".
Mainstream America saw the highjacking of honest reform to serve something else...and they abandoned the pathological extremists.
It is into this chronological context the extremists dared to prominently display the "Silence is Violence" message. I had no reaction to the message until recently when I thought of real life applications in which it breaks into something wrong, then I realized how intolerant and belligerent the message is. It all begins with simple thought experiments.
Think of the archetypical Engineer type, or Science type (I have a Bachelor of Science and was a Software Engineer). They are engrossed in the subject matter of their work, and even outside of work their hobbies and reading interests tilt towards the complex ends of our material world. They may vote, but their conversations and passions are not in sync with social justice rhetoric.
Think of the archetypical Asian Restaurant Entrepreneur type (I'm good friends with a few). They are busy with their work lives. The work incessantly. They save. They try to keep as much of their money within their own family. They push their children to be as privileged and economically powerful as possible. They don't have time nor interest in helping local struggling communities, the historically oppressed, or send some of their wealth to BIPOC groups.
These two archetypes are silent and uninvolved in what the social justice advocates want dialogue on. And it is because these archetypical groups are too busy being more capable, intelligent, relevant and socially redeeming than the social justice archetype.
Pathology, incompetence, illiberalism, intolerance and belligerence are much higher in the social justice camp. When we hear such imposing messages as "Silence is Violence" we should respond with correction and make it plain we revere a few archetypical groups as higher in very real value due to intellect and work ethic over social justice activists.
Let them know their station and those they cut down are actually of greater value.
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