If you've lingered in social justice circles for more than 5 minutes, you've probably heard someone say that intent doesn't matter when it comes to prejudice. "But I didn't mean it in a racist/sexist/homophobic/ trans*phobic/ableist/classist/ blahblahblah way!" is probably the goto cop out of privileged people everywhere.
But intent doesn't matter. Not one tiny bit. And now I'm gonna tell you a little story about probably the biggest fuck up of good intentions in history.
Once upon a time there was a Spaniard named Bartolome de las Casas who came to the New World. He started out in 1502 in Hispaniola as an owner and raider of human flesh, specifically an owner of slaves from the local Taino Indian tribe. He even argued against the Dominican priests who said that genocide of the native people was bad.
He then moved on to Cuba, where he participated massacres against the natives. Participating in that level of violence changed his mind. He gave up his slaves and
became "Protector of the Indians". No seriously, that's what his title was. He spent the rest of his life lobbying various Kings and Bishops and Cardinals to get them to see that the indigenous people of the New World were, in fact, people. he even joined the Dominicans he had argued with previously.
And one of his brilliant ideas, put to Charles V of Spain, was that the encomienda program should be ended and replaced with....
wait for it.....
importation of African slaves to replace the workforce (slave force) the Spaniards would give up.
His intentions were good. He saw the horrid effect of European germs and slavery on the local populations. He didn't want any more Indians to die. That was it.
Of course, we all know what happens after the Spanish say "Fuck yeah, African slaves!". 500 years later and we're still seeing what horrors that plan created on 3 fucking continents.
And the thing is, if de las Casas hadn't been a privileged shitface to begin with- the idea of replacing one slave population with another, even with the "best" of intentions, would not have crossed his mind.
Now most of us will never have the influence to be a good-intentioned shitface on that scale. Thankfully. But that doesn't mean that our good-intentioned fuck-ups aren't hurtful and don't perpetuate oppression. It's the thousand tiny cuts that keep institutional oppression, well institutional.
RQ's shared items
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Road To Oppression Is Paved With Good Intentions
Monday, January 23, 2012
Shit you go through when you have your own name
So I am looking at getting Kid an ID card (we're city folks- he doesn't need a driver's license) because he is nearly 17 and should have one. I'm reading the website, lalalalalala, to find out what documents he needs and if I need to go in with him. Then I run across this shit:
"If your last name is different than your parent’s or guardian’s...we’ll require more documents (A divorce decree or marriage certificate)."
I don't have a either of those- being that I've never been married. And Kid's name on his birth certificate is different than my name- which is, was and ALWAYS will be different.
So what, because I refused to marry Kid's (insert whatever insults you like here)dad and have my own damn name- Kid can't get ID? WTF? This is fucking 2012. Kid's with different names from their parents are like what, almost a majority by now.
I think it might actually be easier to get his fucking passport than to get a boring state ID card because of this stupid requirement. Excuse me while I scream my frustrations in the alley.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Desperate Times and All That
The lovely Sasha at Sasha Said is facing eviction with her 4 puppies. If you've got it to spare- throw some kibble her way.
Nostalgia
This could be the Elizabitchez theme song, if we had one. (Well maybe also Kristy Maccoll's In These Shoes)
And this Princess Superstar cover of April March's Chick Habit is made of awesomesauce
Friday, January 13, 2012
If Katie Roiphe writes about Caitlin Flanagan- does the whole faux-feminist world implode?
Is this two wrongs don't make a right? If we throw Camile Paglia in with them, could we have a 3-way shitface death battle? Cause I'd pay money to see that.
Seriously, real money. I'd pay it. But it has to be actual death and not the winner gets to show mercy instead of treppaning her opponent with a stiletto. Treppaning will be done!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Remember when I said rich people fucking suck
because they lack empathy and generosity and a sense of community that the rest of us have to have because we have to learn that shit in order to live and they don't?
Yeah- fucking rich dude breaks waiter's finger because he fucking can.
Let's Play Connect The Fucking Dots!
In the 12 months following the 2003 legalization of same sex marriage in Massachusetts, gay and bisexual men had a significant decrease in medical care visits, mental health care visits, and mental health care costs, compared with the 12 months before the law change. This amounted to a 13 percent reduction in health care visits and a 14 percent reduction in health care costs.
14% cost reduction- DAYUM! These results hold true even for men who had no plans to marry.
Color me shocked, SHOCKED, that removing (one, major) form of institutional oppression results in improved health for oppressed people. Shocked! (Of course by shocked I mean not surprised at fucking all.)
Now lemme extrapolate a little. Women experience depression at twice the frequency of men. Twice. Double. I can't imagine why living in a world full of fucking gender based violence and oppression might cause women to be more at risk of depression as men are, can you? Nope, must be that us ladies are weak or hysterical or something. I don't know. I have a lady brain and have to pause while I cry over a video of baby kittens.
Lemme extrapolate again. 41% Blacks suffer hypertension, while only 27% of Whites do. And when Black people are more likely to have hypertension at a younger age and with more severe effects than whites. Hypertension is known to be caused by stress. You don't think it might be the fucking stress of racism? Nooooooooooooooo that would be silly. It must be because Black folks don't know how to eat healthy and exercise like good white folks do.
Oppression is hard on the body and hard on the brain. And it turns out that even people who benefit from oppression in highly stratified societies have poorer health than those in less oppressed societies, i/e the rich in the U.S. aren't as well off health-wise as the rich in somewhere like Finland.
So the next time some douchecanoe wants to whinge on about poor people on medicaid using up all the resources, smack that person in the head and tell (most likely) him to shut his pie hole. If he wants oppressed people to be more healthy he can stop fucking benefiting from undeserved privilege.
