From: mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Mike J. Brown)
Subject: Re: Fuck You All
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 05:46:43 GMT

Sorry if this gets posted twice.

In article <BuD8yx.CAJ@ecf.toronto.edu> ricegm@ecf.toronto.edu (RICE George Mat
thew) writes:
>In article <18k8afINNpft@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> aryeh@cash.ucsc.edu (Aryeh Friedma
n) writes:

>>Before I start flaming you to a total krisp (which is what definatly be) let
>>ask one simple question.  WHY THE F*CK DID YOU CROSS POST TO 10 GROUPS.  None
>
>He did it because he wants attention. Why doesn't everybody just ignore him.
>Maybe he'll go away. You obviously won't change his beliefs (if he wasn't
>just making them up) by this little thread of flames.
>
>Matthew

It is unfortunate that this 'why doesn't everybody just ignore him; maybe
he'll go away' attitude is so common among people who consider themselves
to be PC or at the very least non-racist.  I am guilty of this myself,
having said to myself many times that the best course of action is to
ignore bigots like Hugo and his handful of supporters who expressed their
views in the thread.  I was about to ignore the thread until I ran
into Matthew's post.  I think it raises an issue more worthy of pursuit
through discussion on the net than the actual racist v. nonracist arguments.
As a straight white nonprejudiced male, I find myself in situations ALL THE
TIME where I have to deal with one of my colleagues or peers or a stranger
uttering racist garbage or exposing themselves as homophobes.  Obviously it
would be unproductive to assault them, call them names, etc, in an attempt
to get them to confront and change their views.  So I, like most others,
ignore the offending remarks and try to direct the conversation away from
those topics, often by abruptly changing the subject.  This tactic is almost
always successful in preventing the reinforcement of the person's attitude
(which would happen if I played along, laughing at the jokes and tossing
around offensive language myself) but does nothing to overcome the isms
suffered by the person.  It is this *inaction* on the part of the people
who are safe, like me (as a hetero white male), that perpetuates the
injustices in our society.  Just because the Supreme Court and Congress have
overturned most of the unjust laws in the country doesn't mean that in one
generation's time everything becomes alright.  Whether or not someone makes
a bigoted remark around me or even if I make one myself makes no difference
in my life, so I have always felt satisfied that I had done the right thing
by ignoring the ignorance of others.  The problem is, that is ignorance in
itself!  What can we do / I do to affect society in a positive way,
especially when confronted with situations like when friends or co-workers
make a racist or homophobic joke?  I feel like ignoring ignorance is wrong,
so a couple times (but only with close friends) I have made a show of my
offense at their behavior, explaining everything some time afterward.  But
what should people do, in general?  What should the people who are neither
the victims nor the perpetrators of the isms do?

Mike
-- 
Mike Brown
mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
"The Universe is a spheroid region 705 meters in diameter."