09-20-2019, 09:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2019, 09:54 AM by ChamonixBaggie.)
Yep, this willingness to be outraged is 100% fueling the rise of the far-right. Perfectly reasonable people and viewpoints being labeled 'racist' have diluted the meaning of the word so much that actual racists feel emboldened to air their views and try to claim the reasonable people for 'their team'.
I do also think that there's a lot of loud shouting in the Internet that doesn't reflect your average person on the street however. In that BBC article most of the citizens interviewed weren't bothered and rightly said that it wasn't considered racist to dress up as characters 15 years ago. Most of the 'outrage' is manufactured by politicians looking to score points and shit 'media' looking to score clicks (buzzfeed, vice et al)
I'm inclined to believe that there's a silent majority (like me) going about their lives that think the far-right are abhorrent and those on the left obsessed with identity politics are idiots.
FWIW when I was at university 13 years ago we went out dressed as the A-Team and my mate blacked up as Mr T. It never occurred to us that this was in any way racist and we were in Leicester.
I do also think that there's a lot of loud shouting in the Internet that doesn't reflect your average person on the street however. In that BBC article most of the citizens interviewed weren't bothered and rightly said that it wasn't considered racist to dress up as characters 15 years ago. Most of the 'outrage' is manufactured by politicians looking to score points and shit 'media' looking to score clicks (buzzfeed, vice et al)
I'm inclined to believe that there's a silent majority (like me) going about their lives that think the far-right are abhorrent and those on the left obsessed with identity politics are idiots.
FWIW when I was at university 13 years ago we went out dressed as the A-Team and my mate blacked up as Mr T. It never occurred to us that this was in any way racist and we were in Leicester.