←
→
eftychia: Me in kilt and poofy shirt, facing away, playing acoustic guitar behind head (Default)
Add MemoryShare This Entry

QotD

posted by [personal profile] eftychia at 05:25am on 2010-11-24

"At what point are our ancestors off the hook for outrages that happened decades or centuries before they even arrived on American soil, and that they could have had no control over or choice about anyway, being, say, uber-poor peasants fleeing feudal eastern europe?" -- kismet @ Daily Kos, 2009-11-16

"At the point [t]hat we stop being dicks to uber-poor peasants fleeing third-world countries today." -- RiotLibrarian @ Daily Kos, about an hour later

←
→
There are 3 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
minoanmiss: A detail of the Ladies in Blue fresco (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] minoanmiss at 01:57pm on 2010-11-24
Well said, RiotLibrarian.

What is with the 'my ancestors weren't here for that so I don't have to feel guilty about it" thing anyway? As far as I can see it's just a way of saying "that historical outrage wasn't wrong after all or at least I don't have to care about it" with a side dish of "the past has no influence the present and there is no way in which I benefit from the results of oppressions perpetuated in the past."

For example, I'm pretty sure none of my ancestors were Nazis because AFAIK they were all Black and living in Jamaica at that point, but that doesn't mean I would be justified in denying or downplaying the Holocaust, or in leaving anti-Semitism unchallenged today or in letting myself benefit from someone's decision to favor me over someone else because they think I'm a Christian.
[link] [reply]
 

From flaviarassen

posted by (anonymous) at 06:27am on 2010-11-26
Interestingly, while I have remarked to people that my ancestors were probably not oppressors, it has never once occurred to me to use that as an excuse to ignore or downplay anything that has happened, or even to overlook the ongoing consequences of those actions. It's amazing how people will justify themselves!!
[link] [parent] [reply]
dharma_slut: Delicate pink cherry bloosms say; "I am a fragile fucking flower" (speshul)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] dharma_slut at 05:45pm on 2010-11-24
I said a few things along a similar line
during racefail
[link] [reply]

Links

January

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1
1
 2
1
 3
1
 4
1
 5
1
 6
1
 7
1
8
1
 9
1
 10
1
 11
1
 12
1
 13
1
 14
1
15
1
 16
1
 17
1
 18
1
 19
1
 20
1
 21
1
22
1
 23
1
 24
 
 25
 
 26
 
 27
 
 28
 
29
 
 30
 
 31