I get this is something marginalized folks must live with on a daily basis and none of this is surprising, but I’m a white cishet guy and this stuff is eye opening and (further) radicalizing to me.
The entire social response to Kirk getting merc’d is literally the 
meme. Down to bone.
White, cishet, male-dominated society (and the mainstream media that extends from it) has decided that, okay, maybe Kirk said some very pointed or occasionally untoward comments. But really, can any of those words compare to being willing to debate in the Marketplace of Ideas? Ok, maybe he was a bit racist. Maybe he didn’t care for trans folks. Sure, that’s all a bit rude. But he was willing to discuss his ideas and be civil about it (ok, maybe not civil, but he didn’t kill anyone over it), and in the end that’s all that really matters, right?
Politicians, the media, and a good chunk of society is basically saying how marginalized people may feel about all this is entirely irrelevant. Any sort of speech that is racist, sexist, or bigoted is excusable so long as the subject serves the broader neoliberal, white supremacist, settler project.
Marg bar Amrika.
white cishet man here being driven absolutely bizonkers by my young (22) black coworker doing the pearl clutching liberalism over kirk to the point he got the sous chef to be like hey shut up about it
I explained how kirk was a mercenary in a war of propaganda that directly impacted him, he was literally his fucking enemy, and he’s like oh yeah I agree. But then persists in this “it’s wrong to cheer for ANYONE’S death” shit. Nothing that I say is getting this kid to understand that eulogizing Kirk and not dumping on him at absolutely every opportunity just helps empower the fascist ideology he helped spread. In fact, the more I say, the more convinced he seems to think Kirk was GOOD, actually, because he clearly thinks Im a fuckin idiot
I really, really hope he comes in to work one day going “wow, i read some Lenin and it turns out literally everything you’ve ever said is correct” but for now it’s literally like a 50/50 chance of me hearing a good opinion from this kid or something that literally sounds like it came from the 60+ year old ex military crackers i work with and it’s fucking killing me
Yep. Saying “Kirk had a point” (On anything.) is enabling the whole thing.
The man’s trade was hate. His defence was he was debating, civilly, but it was civil on his terms.
So far he hasn’t said he agrees with any of kirk’s ideas, he’s just leaning really hard into this civility fetishism “being happy ANYONE died is wrong” shit. I told him people are getting fired for being happy he was killed while an actual Fox News host advocated actively murdering the homeless last night and he still has a job and just nothing is clicking with him
I think it’s because he’s religious so he feels pressured to “try to be better” and shit but like, when shit like that is going on how do you not just immediately GET that the “civility” around discussing kirk’s death HAS A POINT and it’s NOT CIVILITY
Literally tell him he’s a young uninformed idiot who doesn’t know shit about what he’s talking about.
I try not to bully people IRL the way i do online especially since I work with him and don’t want to get fired :/
fwiw this is a positive, prosocial instinct. unlike online, reaching & moving ppl irl involves a lot of patience & meeting ppl where they’re at. if someone comes at you hot/aggressive a little self-defense counterbullying is fine tho ofc