Re: The judgment makes me uncomfortable
in reply to a message by queenv
Yeah, ok. That is a good point.
I guess I just think that framing it as reaction in a conversation like this could be unhelpful to your purpose. Since the lowest-hanging fruit is to get people to go, "Hmm, you're right, I don't laugh at Japanese names. So why would I laugh at these, because it's not really different." It's a much taller order to get them to go "hmm, you're right, my own attitudes really are part of systematic racist oppression!" I mean, not that you shouldn't want to demand that they realize it, but your chances are less. A potential whiteracist response to "the naming culture is a reaction to oppression by white culture" might be "yeah, just as I thought, they use the names because they don't want good jobs or education!" My inclination is to head that one off at the pass, since from a practical standpoint the naming culture should be respected regardless of what its origins are.
- mirfak
I guess I just think that framing it as reaction in a conversation like this could be unhelpful to your purpose. Since the lowest-hanging fruit is to get people to go, "Hmm, you're right, I don't laugh at Japanese names. So why would I laugh at these, because it's not really different." It's a much taller order to get them to go "hmm, you're right, my own attitudes really are part of systematic racist oppression!" I mean, not that you shouldn't want to demand that they realize it, but your chances are less. A potential whiteracist response to "the naming culture is a reaction to oppression by white culture" might be "yeah, just as I thought, they use the names because they don't want good jobs or education!" My inclination is to head that one off at the pass, since from a practical standpoint the naming culture should be respected regardless of what its origins are.
- mirfak