Chromatica
There’s nothing I can say about the atrocities going on that (1) haven’t already been said and (2) haven’t been said better. However, I do want to think about the presence of protesting/violence/rioting on social media. Here is where I can add something: white people, do not make assumptions about how “good” of an activist your fellow white friends are being. (I’m using “I” here in the general sense.) And I am specifically referencing white people here:
Maybe your way of coping is posting a lot of articles, updates, and pictures on social media. Perhaps my way is posting nothing. It does not mean I don’t care.
I may not want to attend the local “protest” for various reasons. It doesn’t mean I don’t care. (For one, I don’t want to get the COVID, thank you.)
Do not demand that a protest you attend be a “peaceful” one. You can choose to be peaceful, some may choose to express their hurt in other ways. You can’t decide. (At this point, what is even the fucking point of a peaceful protest? To put on a show to make you feel better?)
“Academic” is in no ways synonymous with “activist.” Many academics are activists, which is great, but do not assume all other academics need to prove their activism to you through public action. In fact, the very notion of being an academic is one that is somewhat complicit with a system that has oppressed people for centuries. So academics can be activists, but one does not automatically equal the other.
I was just rereading this and it makes me sound like some Chapo Trap House superfan. Please, protest, be angry, loot, resist, directly confront. But I do not need your fellow privileged ass to tell me I am too political/not political enough.
Something people have been doing is providing reading lists. Which, great, but some people don’t have the luxury to get through some esoteric reading list. Many of these lists do not include fiction, which I think can be as powerful. I’ve been thinking a lot about Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, which I recently read and found to be an excellent narrative about “well meaning” white people whose actions are harmful.
Thanks for reading. I’ll now resume being the alt-academic edgelord I brand myself to be.