the evolution of a charge: from white privilege to white supremacist

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

10. Which black life did Marissa Johnson save?

Last edited Wed Aug 12, 2015, 01:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Here's the thing - people actually look for connections, and ask 'How does this help?'

If you tell a person 'Excuse me, I need you to stay where you are, and not get in the way while I save this black child's life', chances are really strong they'll stay where they are and let you perform CPR in the middle of the street or whatever.

If, on the other hand, you tell them 'Shut up and listen to me rant and say things to you that sound like insults so I can save a black child's life', they're going to ask you 'Where's the child and how does this save its life?'

If you can't show a connection between what you're doing and some useful outcome, they're not going to be interested in sitting and letting you insult them. People who are giving Marissa Johnson flack are doing so because they don't see how what she did actually did anything to save any lives. Now maybe they're shortsighted, maybe she did somehow save lives, and it's just not obvious. But you can't claim people 'placed their emotional needs above the urgency of black lives' and expect them to believe it if you can't point to any black lives she was actually saving.

They placed their emotional needs above what looked to them like her emotional need to call them names.

Those same people, btw, had applauded a BLM speaker earlier in the presentation, apparently. They're willing to support changes to the police forces that actually create changes and DO save black lives. Had Marissa Johnson come up on stage and talked to them about getting a referendum on the ballot that would create some structural change to rein in police, and save black lives, she would have gotten applause and a bunch of signatures to get that referendum on the next ballot. But she didn't come up and do anything that looked to them like it was saving any black lives.

Show people there's a connection between what you're doing and the outcome you want, and they'll support you.