Stearns, Junius Brutus, 1810-1885, artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Reply to The Oppression Olympics
Featuring The Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter
Mark,
You might have titled this bot essay, The Victimhood Olympics. There must have been a theater director mass shaming recently about Native American land rights. The plays I have recently seen here in Rochester have also included a reading of a statement recognizing that the theater is located on what was (and still should be?) native land. I haven’t noticed such preliminary statements at other event places, such as ballparks, concert venues, arenas, etc. Maybe it’s just a matter of time. There is almost no end to the amount of apologizing that could and maybe should go into every purchase or pleasure that normy people enjoy in the U.S.A. The same would apply to varying degrees to every people on every corner of the planet. Perhaps there is a tribe somewhere in the deepest Amazon or remotest Himalayan valley that didn’t surplant some previous residents. But they probably surplanted a band of Neanderthals or Desovians or Homo Florensis or whatever. I think that is where I will draw the line, no apologizing to extinct species. Up to there, I’m fine with apologizing to whoever, wherever. Just don’t let my coffee get cold or my beer warm!
MarkO
That’s Denisovan not Desovian. And Homo Floresiensis, not Florensis. Jeebus, my confidence in naming early hominids is taking a hit…
Mark O.
Interesting, I can remember when I heard that Richard Wagner was a rabid antisemite, should I stop listening to his music because of that?
I did for quite a while, but I still liked the music.
Then I remembered Hitler’s love for Wagner’s work …
Is it possible to separate a terrible belief from an artistic gift?
Contemporaneously, how does one deal with Kanye West?
(Easy for me, not being a fan)
Paul C.
Oh man, MM’s “Oppression Olympics” essay would be a great stand alone blog post. And I agree with MO, “Victimhood Olympics” works as an alternate, though less PC title. (I know, I know — “PC” is passe.)
All politics aside, unless one is directly in a group that is undeniably super oppressed (as in the victims of the Holocaust, or American Slavery, or the Trail of Tears, or….) it is, dare I say this, kinda cool to be part of a group that sees itself as The Victim. Everyone wants to belong and everyone wants a purpose. Whether one identifies as a Jan 6 insurrectionist or a strident trans rights advocate, the mission, the quest, that feeling of righteousness in the face of one’s persecutors, that sense of belonging to something bigger than oneself undeniably stirs the human soul.
Perhaps a closer examination of this universal human need could lead to a greater self-awareness among progressives who feel the need to “maximalize”, to brook no compromise, to dismiss anyone not in their immediate group as a probable enemy. And perhaps this burgeoning self-awareness could be infectious — and humans will begin to accept that we are all pretty much weird as fuck — and, in that, we are all pretty much the same.
Then, at last, on street corners and kitchen tables all across America, Trumpies and trans folks and Tea Partiers and immigrants and Black queer Jewish persons will all hug and exclaim, “You’re a weird fucker and so am I!”
DC
Yeah, at what point do we separate today’s standards from historical standards? Yes, we know slavery and discrimination are abhorrent–but only because we are the enlightened 21st century creatures that we are. Paul and the other bots make good points. Do we reject someone’s entire life work because of a cultural discriminatory practice? Jefferson and Washington have been excused for being slave owners while we condemn Webb for institutional discrimination that he probably had very little control of. This is a massive blindspot that needs to be revisited. Maybe we need to recognize that we are products–for better or worse–of our historical culture, not our present one, and should be judged as such. What if fifty years from now our culture thinks owning dogs is barbaric? Would we crucify Obama for owning Bo?
-Geoff