Hey luv, so here’s my feeling about the shaming aspect of calling out white supremacy...to me shaming is a valid tool since white people have been resistant to facts, loyalty, reason and the law! Am I to beg for my rights and freedoms to a populace that has made a mockery of my vulnerability. Fuck no! The shame involves knowing that you have done wrong. There is a level of accountability that is just accurate. That’s just my penny’s worth.
I'm not particularly against shaming. (The author here isn't either. They even admitted it was useful for them.) But I do think it's reasonable to ask if it actually works as a tool, or if it has limits. And what those limits might be. Is it a bludgeon or a scalpel?
I've heard critiques about shaming from people whose work I admire. Like a woman I met in Louisville who'd done anti-racism work in Kentucky for almost 50 years including during the very bad old days at the end of segregation there. She and her pals ( a very integrated group) were adamantly against it, said it never led to enduring change, in fact was usually counter-productive. (We had a very heated discussion about when direct action was useful.) I have to admit that was the first time I had to think about it.
The other thing the author noticed, which was also very interesting to me, is that there had been very few studies to see if shaming actually worked! Meaning no one seems to care if shaming actually leads to real change in behaviors or attitudes. This seems like an important question to answer.
Hey luv, so here’s my feeling about the shaming aspect of calling out white supremacy...to me shaming is a valid tool since white people have been resistant to facts, loyalty, reason and the law! Am I to beg for my rights and freedoms to a populace that has made a mockery of my vulnerability. Fuck no! The shame involves knowing that you have done wrong. There is a level of accountability that is just accurate. That’s just my penny’s worth.
I'm not particularly against shaming. (The author here isn't either. They even admitted it was useful for them.) But I do think it's reasonable to ask if it actually works as a tool, or if it has limits. And what those limits might be. Is it a bludgeon or a scalpel?
I've heard critiques about shaming from people whose work I admire. Like a woman I met in Louisville who'd done anti-racism work in Kentucky for almost 50 years including during the very bad old days at the end of segregation there. She and her pals ( a very integrated group) were adamantly against it, said it never led to enduring change, in fact was usually counter-productive. (We had a very heated discussion about when direct action was useful.) I have to admit that was the first time I had to think about it.
The other thing the author noticed, which was also very interesting to me, is that there had been very few studies to see if shaming actually worked! Meaning no one seems to care if shaming actually leads to real change in behaviors or attitudes. This seems like an important question to answer.
You know I don't mean that you--or anybody-- should turn the other cheek. Ever.