Marc Spector
the 4'11 Cuban
IN light of the election, ive really turned a critical/objective eye on the sociopolitical atmosphere in America. Particularly the leftist side of things (seeing as how "we" lost). Im sure we can talk for days about how Trump won etc. etc.
But the aftermath of the Election has really made me realize that the woke left annoys me more than i thought.
The best way to explain this....is for me to use Shaun King as an example.
For those who don't know, Shaun King is the senior justice writer for the New York Daily News. In the past year, his work and profile have become prolific (he was the writer who really broke open the Peyton Manning sexual harassment story from the spring). His pieces are often the leading source of information and debate in regards to (mostly) racial injustices/inequality. He is a very through investigator, intelligent, and passionate journalist.
But this is what annoys me about him.
His social media profile/stories highlight the injustices and the people around them. After getting wind of a racist who has committed an unjust act, he will often advocate for people to report them so that the said racists beliefs are now a matter of public record (especially important if they are a person of authority). Much of his work is about holding the systems/individuals accountable. He currently is organizing a movement to oppose and protest Trumps incoming presidency.
Now let me say that that all of this FINE. Im not against it and I agree with a lot of it.
My problem is...Shaun King is representative of a movement that never seems to offer real tools to uplift and enhance the living situations of the oppressed. With regards to the woke left, there never seems to be any focus on enhancing education and autonomy through financial literacy, firearm training and ownership, educational outreach and resources, job education programs, etc. etc. etc.
It seems that they are solely committed into winning the hearts and minds of the American people by shaming and shouting down the various -isms. It seems that their tactic is to publicize every act of injustice until the public changes their mind, which is not a plan with tangible results.
I think what the woke left is missing is that Martin and the Freedom Riders marched with a several set goals in mind (voting rights a huge goal In particular). I don't think they ever went out with the MAIN goal of trying to shame racism out of existence because in the circumstances they grew up in, how they could ever NOT live in a racist world?
Malcolm in particular DID NOT GIVE A FLYING fukk what non blacks thought and was not out to change minds. He viewed trying to win hearts and minds as pointless and even demeaning (essentially begging for scraps in his eyes). His goal was about creating a sense of pride, autonomy, and unity in the black community so that we wouldn't NEED to ask the white man for anything.
NO their goals were more tangible and concrete.
My conflict with this is, there is a large subset of the country that really has no idea. They have no idea the injustice that PoC, LGBT, Muslims, etc. go through. They cant conceive it. And highlighting injustices and shouting down the -isms (especially on social media) is a means to make taboos out of bigoted and prejudice behavior.
But where should the idealism of hoping you can change hundreds of years of prejudices end, and becoming cynical and preemptive enough to embolden the oppressed with the tools to succeed (because you know you CANT win everyones heart and mind) begin?
But the aftermath of the Election has really made me realize that the woke left annoys me more than i thought.
The best way to explain this....is for me to use Shaun King as an example.
For those who don't know, Shaun King is the senior justice writer for the New York Daily News. In the past year, his work and profile have become prolific (he was the writer who really broke open the Peyton Manning sexual harassment story from the spring). His pieces are often the leading source of information and debate in regards to (mostly) racial injustices/inequality. He is a very through investigator, intelligent, and passionate journalist.
But this is what annoys me about him.
His social media profile/stories highlight the injustices and the people around them. After getting wind of a racist who has committed an unjust act, he will often advocate for people to report them so that the said racists beliefs are now a matter of public record (especially important if they are a person of authority). Much of his work is about holding the systems/individuals accountable. He currently is organizing a movement to oppose and protest Trumps incoming presidency.
Now let me say that that all of this FINE. Im not against it and I agree with a lot of it.
My problem is...Shaun King is representative of a movement that never seems to offer real tools to uplift and enhance the living situations of the oppressed. With regards to the woke left, there never seems to be any focus on enhancing education and autonomy through financial literacy, firearm training and ownership, educational outreach and resources, job education programs, etc. etc. etc.
It seems that they are solely committed into winning the hearts and minds of the American people by shaming and shouting down the various -isms. It seems that their tactic is to publicize every act of injustice until the public changes their mind, which is not a plan with tangible results.
I think what the woke left is missing is that Martin and the Freedom Riders marched with a several set goals in mind (voting rights a huge goal In particular). I don't think they ever went out with the MAIN goal of trying to shame racism out of existence because in the circumstances they grew up in, how they could ever NOT live in a racist world?
Malcolm in particular DID NOT GIVE A FLYING fukk what non blacks thought and was not out to change minds. He viewed trying to win hearts and minds as pointless and even demeaning (essentially begging for scraps in his eyes). His goal was about creating a sense of pride, autonomy, and unity in the black community so that we wouldn't NEED to ask the white man for anything.
NO their goals were more tangible and concrete.
My conflict with this is, there is a large subset of the country that really has no idea. They have no idea the injustice that PoC, LGBT, Muslims, etc. go through. They cant conceive it. And highlighting injustices and shouting down the -isms (especially on social media) is a means to make taboos out of bigoted and prejudice behavior.
But where should the idealism of hoping you can change hundreds of years of prejudices end, and becoming cynical and preemptive enough to embolden the oppressed with the tools to succeed (because you know you CANT win everyones heart and mind) begin?
