There is plenty of rage in the world right now. It’s right to be outraged at police indiscriminately killing citizens, a disproportionate number of whom are black. It’s right to be outraged at the injustices committed against migrants and asylum seekers, who are simply searching for a safer place to live. It’s right to be outraged at the mistreatment of those who are incarcerated. It’s right to be outraged at the continual violence against women throughout the world. It’s right to be outraged at child abuse and pedophilia. It’s right to be outraged about the plundering of the world’s resources by big corporations. It’s right to be outraged at poverty and hunger. It’s right to be outraged at the burning of the Amazon and the killing of indigenous people and raping of indigenous lands. And it’s right to be outraged by the illegal wars and assaults on human rights throughout the world, like the phoney war against Iraq launched by the USA and the UK.
But what if someone is outraged at something you’re not outraged at, and you start to want to silence them or give them verbal abuse, or call names and bully them? What if the same people whose rights you want to protect would, in fact, be oppressors of other groups whose rights you also stand up for? What if white people who are shouting Black Lives Matter are the same white people who work in prisons where they abuse their authority over the incarcerated? Or the black people whose lives you are protecting are anti-homosexuals? Or what if you’re a therapist or a spiritual teacher or professional and you welcome and serve all clients equally, but don’t show the same level of compassion or patience to another professional who happens to disagree with you?
You see I imagine that many of those out protesting now that Black Lives Matter, who also say that All Lives Matter, except we are just centering black lives now, would be quite happy to see the police officers lynched or even given the death penalty for their crimes. Many of those who were screaming at people to stay at home because of Covid19, calling others irresponsible for worrying about encroaching governmental restrictions on freedom, even stating they should be denied medical treatment, or calling them out as being disrespectful of the old and vulnerable, are now joining the calls to protest about police brutality. All of a sudden, the threat of Covid19 is no longer the main focus.
Life is a complex intersection of interests, rights and repressions. We all have blind spots. If you are really interested in dismantling systems of oppression and not just the systems which would oppress the particular group you happen to favour or lobby for, then it’s a good idea to challenge where your own ideals for freedom of the one intersect with repression of another. It’s a good exercise to face this complexity, knowing that there are no simple solutions. What we can do is to become aware of our own biases, prejudices and desires for domination and power, and to educate ourselves on the issues at hand, with a sincere willingness to engage with different perspectives and opinions. Because shutting down others who disagree with you is also a form of violence and domination.
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