Monday, June 10, 2013

101 List Updated!

To prove that I'm still alive, I just updated that tab above which reads "Read These Before Engaging."

Most of you who come to this blog in good faith actually wanting to learn will actually take some time out to read what's in that tab, for which I thank you.

Everyone else visiting this blog to blergh out at me for being racist or white-hating or whatever intellectually lazy non-arguments can fuck off; I'll be deleting comments if I suspect you just want your opinions heard. 

This comes in light of learning about @Anti_Racism_Dog, which Overland's Malcolm Harris talks about here. It's actually a long thing, so let me quote the relevant excerpts. The concept of @Anti_Racism_Dog was that it was a Twitter account that simply barked at any racist tweet. What drove white liberals who like to think of themselves as non-racist bonkers was that Anti_Racism_Dog was having none of their colorblind racist nonsense and would bark at them. 
Colour-blind racists feed on good-faith debate, and engaging with them, especially online, is almost always futile. But when they’re barked at by a dog, one whose only quality is anti-racism, they flip the fuck out. They demand to be engaged in debate (‘Tell me how what I said was racist!’) or appeal to objective definitions (‘The dictionary says racist means X, therefore nothing I said was racist’), but @Anti_Racism_Dog just barks.
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Precisely because the dominant global discourse is white-supremacist, it is rhetorically easier to make a racist argument than an anti-racist one. 
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‘Trolling’ as a certain kind of internet harassment is tied to time: the successful troll expends much less time and energy on the interaction than their targets do. It’s the most micro of micro-politics, an interpersonal tug of war for the only thing that matters. 
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A true troll doesn’t have a position to protect because to establish one would leave it vulnerable to attack, and playing defence takes time. @Anti_Racism_Dog, by fully assuming the persona of an animal, was invulnerable to counter-attack. You can’t explain yourself to a dog and you look like an idiot trying. The only way to win is not to play but this is the colour-blind racist’s Achilles Heel: they’re compelled to defend themselves against accusations of racism. It’s the anti-racist argument that gives them content; theirs is an ideology that’s in large part a list of counter-arguments. After all, white-supremacists are already winning – their task now is to keep the same racist structures in place while making plausibly colour-blind arguments against dismantling them. @Anti_Racism_Dog was empty of anything other than accusation and so left its targets sputtering.
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Colour-blind racism is particularly dangerous because it isn’t immediately visible as such. It provokes good-faith discussion from liberals about what counts as racism, muddying the water.
Let me point your attention to the description of the successful troll: they use less energy than you do in arguing. They're not invested in the argument, after all. They want to waste your time and energy. 

So when I see comments which basically reiterate the same old defensiveness, I know you haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it, because otherwise you'd actually stop to wonder if there's a reasonable counter-argument. I've spent a lot of time considering my opponents' position, more time than I really should have, so I feel completely entitled to taking up your goddamn airspace and making you explain yourself. 

I still very much believe in rage. I also believe in choosing one's own battles. Funnily enough, I get "choose your battles" a LOT when all I'm doing is expressing a simple dissatisfaction with the status quo. It's a point of habit now; see fuckery? Call it out. It really does not take up much of my energy to say "that's kinda fucked up". What DOES take up my time and is a goddamn waste of breath? Getting whitesplained about how the teaspoon I just expended was a waste. 

In order to not waste my breath, I have compiled the 101 list so I don't have to keep repeating myself. If there is something you don't understand and need clarification on, though, feel free to ask me about it.

I hope you enjoy the newer links! I'll also be editing the About section and adding a Contact tab since apparently my email is hard to find. 

2 comments:

  1. Hi there! In an effort to increase the connections and visibility of the steampunk blog world, I'm hosting a link party over at my blog, Steam Ingenious. Come by and share the link to your blog so new readers can find you! Share your latest posts with us. And spread the word! http://steamingenious.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-steampunk-blog-link-party.html

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  2. Thanks for the 101 list and the updated links. I haven't had time to read them all yet, but I'm working my way through them. They're highly informative and entertaining and I'm learning a great deal by reading them. I appreciate the time you put into this.

    I'm sorry you have to deal with so many trolls. Even the act of deleting posts must get exhausting when it exposes you to such hateful or ignorant opinions. From those of us who appreciate your posts, thank you for all your hard work!

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