Hey friends. Lets have a seat for a second. I realize this only applies to a small minority of people on my feed, and this, I feel, is a better way of communicating this than starting a flame war in your comments. I obviously disagree with a lot of derogatory posting about the Ferguson situation, the protesters, and about black culture. I could debate you all day, with facts and history in my holster, but Im not going to. Even if I think your opinions are bigoted, uneducated, or reactionary, I still respect your human freedom to have them, just as I respect the protesters reaction and feelings regarding the lack of justice. What I dont respect, is when you wave your opinion like a flag to your other white friends, but not in public, at work, or anywhere you would actually have to defend it or allow discourse. Thats why freedom of speech is a good thing, it allows discourse and compromise. Cutting that off by speaking with anonymity or restricting your opinion to your like-minded friends is, in my opinion, an abuse of the valuable rights that the first amendment allows you. If you have a problem with black culture, then tell that to a black person who can actively defend it. If you have a problem with people on public aid, then the next time you see someone using food stamps, tell them and allow them to defend it. If you have a problem with a man cat calling you, then walk over and tell him how you feel, and allow him to defend it. Cyclists, drivers, feminists, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, vegans, hunters, illegal immigrants, etc, etc are all right there in your daily life sharing the world with you. If you have a problem with them, tell them to their face instead of complaining about them to your choir of Facebook friends. Allow discourse, and staple another human beings eyes, voice, and body language to it. Allow yourself to become more educated and tolerant. Let your fear turn back into curiosity. That, in my opinion, is the only way we can make this polarization go away. You might be dubbed blunt or confrontational, but at the end of the day, people will respect you for it, because you allowed actual, unfiltered discourse. PS. A great place to start would be with your racist uncle/hippy grandson/gun-loving cousin tomorrow over Thanksgiving dinner!
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 19:55:43 +0000
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