The generations that murdered six million people because of fake news.
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deleted
· 5 years ago
Each generation is hyper sensitive about their own things. 60 years ago, people were super racist. And that was not okay. Today, people are getting accused of racism for doing things like having Japanese tea parties or wearing dreads, even painting heartfelt homages to black suffering. And that's not okay either.
People in every generation are awful and wonderful, because humans are complex, beautiful creatures.
People are trying to find their way. After decades or even centuries of extreme and open racism and suppressed groups with little or no voice- we reached a point where society as a whole doesn’t want to make those mistakes and so people are trying to figure out what is and isn’t racist, what is and isn’t an artifact of racism- because the sentiment that we ourselves aren’t responsible for the actions of those born before us only works if we aren’t still carrying their legacy of racism forward. So it’s all very up in the air while society tries to figure out what legacies and ripple effects of racism need purged still, and what measures need be put in place to prevent racism going forwards and ensure mutual and equal respect of all people. And those who were voiceless are compensating now by voicing repressed grievances.
Mix in there that some people in all camps are more there to push their own agendas over actually trying to have a dialog on the real issues, and that there is resentment on “both sides”- resentment from people who live in a society where those (many still living) relatives were treated horribly by a group of (many still living) people, that the defendants of one inherited largely the benefits of that and the defendants of the other inherited largely disadvantages of that- and the feeling of living in a country where if the law and a war didn’t expressly forbid it- you know you’d be in chains and treated as an animal by many at the first chance they got. Feeling like a great deal of your country hates you or sees you as inferior just because of your skin color.
On the other side is resentment at change. Resentment at feeling like they have to defer to the whims of another group, and for many feeling they are having to carry the burden of deeds they had no involvement in just because they were born white. There’s also the resentment of feeling attacked- like things are being taken away. That what was ok to do or say before suddenly is forbidden because it’s no longer ok.
He fact that if we have a pie- and one group got 90% of that pie but was only 60% of the total people- and the other group got 10% of the pie but is 40% of the people- to make that right means that the 60% is going to need to give back 30% of the pie. That’s upsetting to most people. You buy a stollen item- you may not have even known it was stolen. But once that comes out it gets returned to its rightful owner and the thief is long dead so while the person may have gotten back their item- you’re left with less and you didn’t do anything wrong. You’d likely be upset.
So mixed in with all the constructive and necessary negotiation and communication to try and heal the wounds left by a legacy of gate and discrimination, are all these factors of emotion that make it so that some people on both sides aren’t acting in good faith- and in any negotiation of relationships will be some friction, some disagreement on what’s fair or what makes sense. It’s like a divorce preceding but with the goal of keeping us together and allowing building relationships.
There’s ground rules like “he can’t insult me on social media or call me a whore to all his friends..” and “fine- but she can’t call me an ogre and has to stop throwing that stuff from 40 years ago in my face all the time...” there’s frequent flier miles.. “I did most of the traveling and like travel more!” “But it’s my card that paid for it and....” all that stuff and like many divorced there’s a lot of bad blood and emotion there and some people don’t really care about figuring it out or being fair and just want to try to hurt the other person because they feel hurt.
All in all it’s a process of cultural evolution, personal improvement, and healing for all- so long as we can leave hate and bigotry and pettiness out of things and genuinely try to listen and understand each other and each other’s positions, and follow a logic can can lead us to what is a fair and emotionally acceptable place.
Elvis Presley- watch one of his performances if you need to- was considered hugely offensive. The way he moved his hips was considered to suggestive. You couldn’t show a toilet on tv. Not someone on a toilet- a toilet. At all. Married couples couldn’t share the same bed on tv. The first interracial kiss on tv was snuck in and offended people. Ellen, you know? Goofy talk show host America’s sweetheart (or annoyance depending who you ask) Ellen- her show was HUGELY controversial.
When Ellen came out it was received largely positively- but long time sponsors dropped the show, affiliate stations refused to air the show or petitioned to move ELLEN from prime time to late night- and the entire season after she cane out ABC aired a PARENTAL ADVISORY WARNING before every damn show, the same exact show, which now just starred an open lesbian instead of a closeted lesbian. Ellen isn’t exactly Richard Prior or Howard Stern and her show was never much more risqué than Drew Carrey if even that. And that was in the ancient year of... 1997?
The first tv shows with a single mother or father were controversial and people were offended. Married with Children, the Simpsons, lots of people were offended. David Letterman once censored a comedians entire appearance and never had him back before he died because of things the guy said like how he thought Jesus wouldn’t like people wearing crosses because that’s how he was killed. Not really offensive to most in 2019- or not more offensive than much of what’s out there.
People in every generation are awful and wonderful, because humans are complex, beautiful creatures.