Angry Black Woman: via Winter at Mind the Gap! who says everyone should read this blog, and I concur. I’ve read a few things there every now and then, but recently I’ve been lurking and learning almost daily.
This recent post is particularly relevant to Australians during Reconciliation Week:
In other words, if you are White, 99% of the time Racism doesn’t affect you. Therefore, you may not see nor understand Racism when it happens.
If you are a Man, 99% of the time Sexism doesn’t affect you. Therefore, you may not grok Sexist behavior when it occurs nor will you always see Sexism when it is plain to others.
This goes for any -ist or -ism or -phobia you can think of. This goes for you, even if you’re a minority, when it concerns people who are not like you.
What does not affect you personally often will not impact on your consciousness unless you’ve trained yourself to see and understand.
Therefore, the next time you feel yourself declaring something “not racist” or “not sexist” or “not offensive”, think about whether you feel that way because you’re not the one on the receiving end of racist, sexist, or offensive behavior/words/actions/images.
Awesome. Edited to Add: Angry Black Woman also compiled the May 2007 Erase Racism Carnival of blog-posts, and is a panelist at WisCon 31, the feminist SF convention just winding up in the States.
Anybody else found an awesome source of compulsive reading recently?
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Thinking Girl has started co-blogging at Slant Truth. Her first post there discusses how to be an ally to feminists feeling marginalised on race issues: The Problem With Feminism. It covers the importance of listening.
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