We are going to need a proper conversation about this. People can act a certain way without completly
being that way. All racist behavior is bad but I personally draw a line at do they actually carry hate or disdain. Some people are just ignorant and others nondiscriminatory don’t care about anyone thats not themselves which ain’t good either but still not Fascist.
Yeah, I agree with this. There are way too many people who see life in 1bit (black or white) when life isn’t even greyscale; life is in color. Additionally, there were so many racist, sexist, homophobic people even just 20yrs ago, that if you start demonizing them for actions they took 20yrs ago, you’ll very quickly run out of people to support. It’s also very easy for people to get caught in the current and get dragged places they didn’t mean to go because it was normalized in their community.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I haven’t always been the most tolerant person out there (I’ll get to that in a moment). I was pretty homophobic and transphobic as a teenager because I grew up in a time where that was normal, in an area where it was accepted. I was usually an outcast and didn’t have many irl friends, and so most of my friends were online. Some of my “”“friends”“” almost led me down the alt-right rabbit hole while I was in college, and as much as I want to say I left that group voluntarily, the truth is that I was too lonely and afraid of losing the only friends I had (the leopards eventually tried to eat my face, which was the slap in the face I needed to get out of that). My parents didn’t support gay marriage, my grandparents were skeptical of the lesbian couple that moved in down the street from them.
But we changed.
After the leopards ate my face, I stopped and reexamined my life. I thought about the direction I wanted to go in and who I really wanted to be. I now identify as trans. I support BLM. I have a lot of friends in the LGBT community. I’m a fucking furry. My parents now support gay marriage (they still view homosexuality as being a sin, but now they don’t see it as being any worse than any other sin and support your right to be gay). My grandparents have expressed sadness that “that lesbian couple down the street” are moving away (sadly unsurprising since it’s Texas). That’s why I’m not ashamed to admit that I wasn’t always a very tolerant person; I’ve changed and fuck you, I’m proud of that. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that; it doesn’t make you any less of a person for doing so.
Humans aren’t an immutable, unchanging hunk of stone. We can change so long as we’re willing. Hell, others can change you even if you’re unwilling to change, so long as you aren’t holding hate or fear in your heart (though ironically, sometimes, sometimes that can actually make it easier for someone to change you, for better or for worse).
Why are people so insistent on defining present you based on past you? Like, I’m sorry I was a shit when I was younger, but I’m not that person anymore. Can we move on please? That’s part of the reason why things like this bother me. I see part of me in situations like this. Maybe Lantz really was a racist pos throughout his life. Maybe he just cleaned up his public behavior but was still a racist fuck behind closed doors. But maybe he was caught up in the current and didn’t realize where he was until life slapped him in the face.
Edit: I feel like a lot of the people who insist on coloring in broad strokes are probably people who had the privilege of growing up in places where people who are LGBT and/or BIPOC were accepted. Not everyone had that privilege. I also suspect that some of them may have some level of bigotry that they’re either blind to or ashamed of, but for one reason or another, are unable to let go of.
Yeah, I agree with this. There are way too many people who see life in 1bit (black or white) when life isn’t even greyscale; life is in color. Additionally, there were so many racist, sexist, homophobic people even just 20yrs ago, that if you start demonizing them for actions they took 20yrs ago, you’ll very quickly run out of people to support. It’s also very easy for people to get caught in the current and get dragged places they didn’t mean to go because it was normalized in their community.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I haven’t always been the most tolerant person out there (I’ll get to that in a moment). I was pretty homophobic and transphobic as a teenager because I grew up in a time where that was normal, in an area where it was accepted. I was usually an outcast and didn’t have many irl friends, and so most of my friends were online. Some of my “”“friends”“” almost led me down the alt-right rabbit hole while I was in college, and as much as I want to say I left that group voluntarily, the truth is that I was too lonely and afraid of losing the only friends I had (the leopards eventually tried to eat my face, which was the slap in the face I needed to get out of that). My parents didn’t support gay marriage, my grandparents were skeptical of the lesbian couple that moved in down the street from them.
But we changed.
After the leopards ate my face, I stopped and reexamined my life. I thought about the direction I wanted to go in and who I really wanted to be. I now identify as trans. I support BLM. I have a lot of friends in the LGBT community. I’m a fucking furry. My parents now support gay marriage (they still view homosexuality as being a sin, but now they don’t see it as being any worse than any other sin and support your right to be gay). My grandparents have expressed sadness that “that lesbian couple down the street” are moving away (sadly unsurprising since it’s Texas). That’s why I’m not ashamed to admit that I wasn’t always a very tolerant person; I’ve changed and fuck you, I’m proud of that. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that; it doesn’t make you any less of a person for doing so.
Humans aren’t an immutable, unchanging hunk of stone. We can change so long as we’re willing. Hell, others can change you even if you’re unwilling to change, so long as you aren’t holding hate or fear in your heart (though ironically, sometimes, sometimes that can actually make it easier for someone to change you, for better or for worse).
Why are people so insistent on defining present you based on past you? Like, I’m sorry I was a shit when I was younger, but I’m not that person anymore. Can we move on please? That’s part of the reason why things like this bother me. I see part of me in situations like this. Maybe Lantz really was a racist pos throughout his life. Maybe he just cleaned up his public behavior but was still a racist fuck behind closed doors. But maybe he was caught up in the current and didn’t realize where he was until life slapped him in the face.
Edit: I feel like a lot of the people who insist on coloring in broad strokes are probably people who had the privilege of growing up in places where people who are LGBT and/or BIPOC were accepted. Not everyone had that privilege. I also suspect that some of them may have some level of bigotry that they’re either blind to or ashamed of, but for one reason or another, are unable to let go of.