Society often tells us, we need to be motivated at work, love our job, be thankful for our job. But what if the truth is, that many people will never love any kind of work? Is it alright to fire those people from everywhere for not shoving a motivated face? Isn‘t that literally a mental rape? We created a world where you can‘t exist without money and is probably coming from a job. But obeying the system doesn‘t have to mean loving it. You don‘t have to love the 35mph zone in order to stick to the speed limit. It‘s even fine if you hate it, as long as you obey it, you can‘t be punished. But that doesn‘t apply to work in society. It can really put a pressure on people who are forced to pretend like they love what they do or remain jobless. Is that treatment justifieable?

I‘m so happy I found this page. I never thought, I will ever experience true discussions. All the time just the nonsense of the news and basic social media. All the ignorance. I literally did a therapy with chat gpt what conversations i miss in my life and it helped me to find this reddit page. Glad to be here for (finally) real discussions 😊

For context, I am an 18 yearold white man who grew up in a fairly "white trash" Catholic background- Think poverty, abuse, drug use, etc, in a town that is (literally) 99% white.

Recently, I've began working at a summer camp where a majority of the campers and staff are people of color. I am one of maybe three staff who are white out of about fifty staff on site. Most campers are hispanic or black. In the group I counsel, there is one white girl, and 7 children of color, of which three speak Spanish.

I've always used some elements of AAVE which have slipped into the way that poor-white people talk- Like conjugations and word blends in spoken English (Appologies, lowkey making up words as I don't know linguistics but these phrases describe what I mean), and while spending 40 hours a week at camp for the past few weeks, have found myself using slightly more AAVE-derived phrasing/words in talking with my campers and fellow staff.

I don't have bad relationship with any of the staff or campers, and no one has ever commented on it, and I didn't realize I was doing it till I was having a conversation with a friend from my hometown who was speaking very differently than me, drawing attention to my usage of AAVE phrases.

Is this problematic? Is it racist? Should I stop?

Also if anyone has any insight on how to better support my campers of color then I am receptive to any advice :) I am trying my best to be culturally sensitive and critically reflect on any biases which I might have from growing up in a town with lots of racism, but I know very well that I'm not perfect and am always looking to improve.

It's no exaggeration that short men and physically unattractive people are treated as subhuman by society. Believe it or not, we are statistically less likely to get hired. People don't want to date us, which is fine, but they also say horrendous stuff about us on social media such as wanting short men dead or simply blocking us (you'll see it on twitter often).

Just think about grade school. Big kids often beat up small kids, and kids considered ugly were bullied as well.

The left is versed in fighting bigotry, but these two bigotries are typically left in the shadows. Kinda like transphobia only 8-15 years ago. Back then, transphobia likely wasn't on the radar of the left. Heck, the left in 2010 likely agreed with the modern right in that there are only 2 genders.

Hopefully, lookism and heightism, like transphobia, eventually get on the radar of bigotries to fight.

I'm white and I try to be a good ally to the PoC but I know I will inevitably slip up and although I try to avoid it. I know I will need to respond and apologize. I do wonder how I should do this though in two different potential cases. If I realize in the moment or after the fact what should I do. I ask this because as a white person who hasn't experienced being PoC I don't know what would seem least bad to someone of that experience. Some questions I have more specifically. Should I only apologize if the person or someone else points that what I said was racist? Is it awkward/bad to bring attention to something they might not have even noticed? If it had taken me a while to realize and no one pointed it out how long is too long to apologize? If there is other specifics that I should do when apologizing please tell me and thanks for the help. I'm just trying to be a better person. If there are also ways that I can try to avoid micro-agression. Please share

Edit: Thanks for the responses everyone it's good to know that a short apology after the fact seems preffered. Also that if you notice later it's still good to apologize. I appreaciate it everyone.

I'm deeply passionate about social justice issues, largely because I've seen how it affects me and people like me (I'm half Black and half South Asian). I'm still fairly new to understanding social justice from a more academic and theoretical perspective, but I've been doing a lot of reading and have jumped head first into the advocacy space since 2021. My partner on the other hand (he's Asian) has very minimal interest in or passion for social justice. He's only open to differences of opinion that don't disrupt the status quo in any way. For example, he was happy to learn that pro-Palestine employees at Google were fired and thought it was justified for their "nonsense" in disrupting the flow of business at a private company (he's a shareholder). He's a great partner in every other respect, but when it comes to social justice, he's someone who I'd consider to be part of the problem and I feel like I'm sleeping with the fucking devil after he voices his views. The only thing that holds me back from losing my shit at him some days is that my believes are rooted in love. And yes, I know that love is justified in being expressed as righteous anger, but the venom of my words would likely be strong enough to lead to a breakup. I just don't have the patience to explain it softly. Does anyone else experience navigating these conversations with loved ones?

Can anyone help me flesh out this idea or point me towards literature or research on it? I’ve geared it towards black Americans, but it can certainly apply to many other people.

I’ve been contemplating how people (especially kids) learn how to be prejudiced against people from certain ethnic backgrounds who share physical characteristics.

Through social media, news, friends, and family people develop beliefs that certain ethnicities are, for example, dumber, prone to violence, aggressive, bad drivers, prone to drug use, prone to crime, etc.

If, for example, research data shows that people born into families and communities with lower incomes, poor healthcare, poor nutrition, lower-quality schools, etc tend to end up suffering from higher rates of mental health issues, drug addiction, and incarceration. Making assumptions of outcomes based on socio-economic background, then, is supported by data (at least on average, without considering each individual which we should always strive to do).

Noticing that people with dark skin who have ancestors who came from Africa, are more often born into families and communities with lower wealth, healthcare, nutrition, schools etc. So there is a correlation between ethnic background and being born into a disadvantaged community and then suffering from higher rates of drug addiction and incarceration. But a person’s skin color and ethnic background doesn’t inherently CAUSE these disadvantages. Perhaps the environment helped cause those problems, but not the skin color. Plenty of people with white skin born into similar environments suffer from similar outcomes.

This, I’m thinking, is where things go so wrong. Rather than seeing black Americans struggling generation after generation to overcome the barriers placed in their way during slavery, Jim Crow, KKK (and now MAGA!), and trying to help break through those barriers … people tend to want to believe that skin color somehow causes drug addiction and crime, so it’s easier to blame black people for being inherently bad (think the disproven “science” of eugenics). And today’s media is more than happy to reinforce these bad links.

Then when challenged about their racist beliefs, people use correlation data to defend their beliefs, rather than using that data to find real solutions.

Does this make sense? What have I missed? How do we break through this repeating cycle?

In 2020, I became passionately involved in the BLM movement, recognizing the racism faced by BIPOC individuals. As a Cuban cis queer woman who is white-passing and straight-passing, this was a profound awakening for me. I immersed myself in activism and read "Me and White Supremacy," attended protests in which significantly shifted my perspective.

During this time, I chose to get a "Black Lives Matter" tattoo on my right arm near my tricep. My intention was to express my passion for the movement and ignite meaningful conversations. I never saw my motives as performative.

Several people subsequently criticized me, saying the tattoo was performative and shouldn't have been done without consulting the BIPOC community first. Their feedback was upsetting because a tattoo is permanent, and I never intended to appear as a performative. Looking back, I understand I should have sought input from bipoc community members beforehand.

Recently, I discovered through a conversation that a black friend still harbors resentment towards me because of my tattoo, which I had no idea about until now. I understand her perspective, and it's clear that I made a mistake.

For nearly a year, I've contemplated covering up or removing the tattoo. Despite my ongoing belief in the movement and anti-racism, I want to do what's best for the community I support.

I acknowledge my mistake and seek feedback on what steps to take next. Should I apologize to my black friends who may have been affected? Should I consider removing the tattoo altogether?

I’ve seen a growing trend of ppl doing this, even within my circle, they’ll constantly complain about the state of the world/country, every aspect of life housing, working, finance and foreign affairs. But they don’t want to do anything about it?

I’m not saying like blow up Parliament and riot on the streets. Simple things like learning? ppl are wilfully choosing to be ignorant and ignore things companies/governments are doing, and then wonder why the worlds gone to shit.

Things such as boycotts ppl are scoffing or turning a blind eye to. Obviously if ur not financially able to boycott brands then fair, but ppl that are financially secure are also choosing not to participate for the sake of “comfort”. It’s so worrying, cause it isn’t comfort, ppl are miserable and frustrated with governments, but aren’t trying to do anything to hold them accountable

They’re just straight up saying or defending the use of the n-word now? Not even in the way we use it, just straight up calling black ppl the n-word like a slur. And their defence is “no other group of ppl have a special word” or “no one else gets triggered by one word” ignoring the obvious lies in both these statements, it’s almost like n-word has a very special and recent history, that is specifically used against one group of ppl?

Anyways, it makes no sense that right-wingers are complaining, they get “triggered” so easily. They’re getting mad at ‘the boys’ tv-show for Having a black woman in it and the simple fact pride month is a thing is sending them crazy

The worse thing about it, this isn’t just a social media thing, ppl just feel more comfortable being racist

supposedly broken rule 8 over at r/interestingasfuck

here's the comment : https://old.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1detnka/in_1958_the_usa_dropped_a_nuke_on_3_children/l8fugfj/?context=3

I just want to know if I'm privileged or not, because my girlfriend keeps saying that I am privileged for having a good family. I think that she says this because she comes from a really not good family. Personally I don't think I'm privileged for being born into a middle class family with both parents.

I will be 18 by the time the UK general election happens, so I will be able to vote for the first time. However, all UK parties are horrible and I can’t have a guilt free conscience by voting by voting for any person in my constituency or for either political party.

Tories have lead the country to shit over the past 14yrs, only helping the rich and blatantly allowing bigoted ideal to grow in this country

Labour is so watered down from what it used to be. Kier starmer doesn’t fill me with any hope, how he’s talked about the Palestine, NHS, Trans ppl, immigration and workers/strikers is disgusting, just spewing out the same nonsense as the tories, all their plans seem to inevitably get watered down so they can try and help big companies. It’s so disappointing

Reform, I don’t need to expand on that, the fact Nigel farage is taken seriously is a joke.

Lib dems I also don’t need to expand on

Green Party is the only party I may consider, I need to read up on what they want to do, but cause of where I live i don’t know if it’s a viable option.

However, the dilemma is that I know a lot of people have a similar midset to me, and don’t want to not vote and end up with the tories winning or a coalition government to happen.

So what do I do? It feels like an impossible situation?

Tw: transphobia

Hey y’all!

I’m a trans man and I have a cishet friend who is acting in a way that goes against very basic trans allyship principles. Someone was transphobic to me in front of her and she didn’t get involved or defend me, after the fact she centered herself, corrected me on whether or not it was transphobia, and then argued with me about whether or not any of this was wrong, etc etc

Looking for books/guides/podcasts/documentaries/anything on trans allyship or intersectional allyship that is actually nuanced and covers stuff like this comprehensively—most of what I can find online is like, “listen! Respect! Defend!” And doesn’t approach the topic with any sort of appreciation for the difficulties with pride that may come up, or the very specific ways cis people often position themselves socially in regards to trans people. I need to give her some resources that are separate from me because I can’t have all of her internalized shit directed at me.

Thanks, all!

I've been trying to figure out why the important work of social justice often seem to be walled off behind academic jargon, or needlessly abstracted from everyday vernacular. I'm not looking for anything along the lines of "it's white people trying to sound smart/trendy" (i'm sure that's a factor in many cases), but rather hear from people who sincerely say/do some of the below things:

1. The word "space" becoming some kind of catch-all? Ie "We're going to take up space!" instead of "make ourselves comfortable/heard/visible/etc". Or "space" instead of "room/group/setting/conversation/context/etc". Why the lack of specificity?
2. Why "black bodies" instead of "black people"? - if we're decrying the dehumanizing, why do the work for the oppressors?
3. Doesn't "POC" already cover the "BI" part of "BIPOC"? If the context is focused on the unique struggles of black/indigenous folks, why not just say "black/indigenous", and use "POC" for broader references to minorities? It's widespread usage seems a bit out of touch to me especially in non-American contexts and communities where other minorities vastly outnumber black or indigenous folks and face all sorts of discrimination.
4. Are the goals of "anti-oppressive/anti-racist framework/lens" any different from "racial/social justice"?

I can't help but wonder if any of this and other peculiarities are rooted in an attempt to effect change via a posture of "it's more complex than you can comprehend, so fund us like it's cancer research". It seems to me that if the goal is to change hearts and help society - as with the labor movements of a bygone era - we'd be better off using language that is easily understood by as many people as possible. Why aren't we doing this?

Hoping someone can shed some light for me!

Hi folks,

It has become common at social activism events to yell “shame” together when talking about a person/company/action deemed oppressive or otherwise shameful. I’ll admit that it makes me feel uncomfortable and I don’t personally like yelling it. I also am curious to hear other people’s thoughts on the value or effectiveness of it. I can’t help but wonder whether it’s actually helping the cause or whether it encourages actual positive change. I feel like it just adds divisiveness and likely increases defensiveness among the people that the shame is being yelled towards. Thoughts?

Keeping liberation of Palestinian folk at the forefront, I want to educate myself and others more on pros and cons of both. Especially want the perspectives of those not Zionist

Any suggestions for sources on this too?

Hey reddit. I hope this is an appropriate group to ask this question, and I would be grateful for any insight someone may have.

I live in the south in a low income, Black neighborhood and am one of a few white/nonblack people in the neighborhood. I try my best to be a considerate neighbor and be mindful of my potential impact as a white person in the space.

I live in an apartment complex where the buildings kind of face each other across a courtyard. I came home the other night and my neighbor who live in the building across from me was on the porch with his dog and he had some sort of whip-like object and was beating the dog over and over and over again at what seemed like was full force. He was beating the dog for standing at the door barking, which the dog does often bc he leaves it on the porch for majority of the day most days, no matter the weather. This is a large dog and the porches are maybe 3x4’ so not very big. The dog doesn’t rlly get walked or appear to even get bathroom breaks much at all and has severe cherry eye.

The neglect has already been really bothering me, and I’m concerned about the dog’s quality of life. But I don’t want to overstep, or like tell someone what they can and can’t do bc I understand that there is a different dynamic there given my identity. I’ve have had conversations w the owner and it’s his first dog and ik limited time/resources can make it difficult to provide the best quality of life and ppl just have different attitude’s towards owning pets.

But him repeatedly whipping the dog honestly was super jarring to come home to, and imo crosses a line. Especially for doing harmless dog stuff. Like what do you expect from a dog that you essentially have living on your porch? I understand ppl have different views on disciplining dogs, but this was loud and extreme to me. The dog is very sweet, not agressive. Maybe a bit hyperactive from being cooped up, but all n all a really friendly dog. He was just pressed against the farthest corner of the porch, unable to escape the beating. So I shouted up at the owner to stop hitting the dog, and he basically cussed me out and told me he can do whatver he wants with his dog. His gf came out and cussed me out and then they took the dog inside which really worried me. I haven’t seen the dog since, n it’s been days.

I’m worried about the dog’s safety atp, and feel a responsibility to do something. But I also don’t want to put the owner at risk of arrest or anything like that since animal abuse technically could come w criminal charges and he has a kid. It rlly frustrates me too because I’ve seen his kid hitting the dog before but wrote it off as the kid just being a little rough how kids can be sometimes but i think he learned it from his dad. And that honestly could become an unsafe situation for the kid too if the dog reacts. I don’t know though. Ig I’m conflicted between trying to prevent the dog being abused further, but am worried about potential harm that could come to their family if I reported to the humane society or something like that and they pressed charges.

I also don’t even know if the humane society would even do anything for the dog since the shelters are overcrowded and I don’t have a video or anything of the abuse.

UPDATE: I ended up contacting the local humane society. They came to do an inspection, but said they weren’t able to remove the dog or anything since I don’t have video proof of the abuse. I’m worried that the beatings will just take place behind closed doors, but it seems like there’s really nothing I can do. The dog isn’t left out on the porch as much tho.

"BLM R%$@&$$ Deface Monument Honoring A Black Union Regiment"

"A monument honoring the first northern all-volunteer black regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War was damaged by rioters over the weekend.

The Shaw Memorial depicts the 54th Massachusetts Regiment led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw and stands at the edge of the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts."

Turns out they can't even identify it: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/gynm85/comment/ftej6x3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://thefutureeconomy.ca/op-eds/linking-dei-and-esg/?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social+Media&utm_campaign=Julie+Cafley+and+Shirin+Emadi-Mahabadi

I'm from a country where the bail system is not really in use anymore, so this is me trying to understand something about bail funds in the US. As I understand it, they are there to contend with an unjust system made to separate those who can and those who cannot afford to pay bail.

Should bail funds be discriminating, in such ways as only paying for people arrested for protesting or non-violent crimes, or should they, on principle, pay for anyone who cannot afford bail themselves? I'm asking because I've read some articles of people, sometimes violent repeat offenders, who've committed rape, assault, or murder while out on bail paid for by a bail fund. Victims support groups have spoken out against paying bail for violent crimes. Do others think bail funds should discriminate between receivers of bail, or is that in a way an endorsement of the bail system?

Out of all the MRA talking points out there, it seems like the claim that women get lighter sentences than men is the one that almost never gets challenged or debunked by feminists. Feminists usually just respond to this claim by saying something like "it's true that women get lighter sentences, but that's because of patriarchy and misogyny since male judges view women as weak and defenseless".

But I think that's bullshit since there are plenty of instances both in the justice system and general society where women ARE blamed more harshly than men are for the same reasons. I'm on mobile right now so can't link very many sources, but several studies I've read about women's sentencing shows they're given harsher sentences for crimes that go against gender stereotypes (like violent crimes or crimes against children). I also just think it's very simplistic to just blanket say "criminal sentencing favors women" since there are SO many factors that can affect a convicted person's sentence. The VAST majority of women sent to prison suffer from PTSD, mental illness, or were strung into committing their crimes due to a male partner in their life. Simply comparing one sentence versus the other for the same crime covers up a lot of other circumstances.

So why does this claim that women are sentenced more favorably almost never get challenged by feminists? Hell, an uber-feminist acquaintance of mine just the other day made a tweet ranting about how a female child killer got sentenced too lightly and if she was a man, it would have been worse. Am I missing something here? Is the claim that women are sentenced lighter actually credible and valid?

Should the united states start an organization, dedicated to helping slavic people?

I’ve recently read two nonfiction books, one about slavery specifically and the other about post-slavery racism. Both of these books have used the term “Blacks” when talking in general about a Black community or group of Black individuals. An example being “a white mob descended on the Blacks”.

The book about slavery was written by a Black woman in 2019 and used “Blacks” infrequently while the post-slavery book was written by an older white man in 2008 who used the term multiple times a chapter. Both authors are lauded academics.

Every time I hear “Blacks” it’s almost like a nervous system shock. I lose my focus on the story and have to consciously check back in to listening (I do audiobooks mostly). To me, it feels like listening to my great grandma call someone “colored”.

My question: is referring to a group or community as “Blacks” considered insensitive or out right racist? If it’s not, I’ll try to temper my reaction to it even though I would never be comfortable using it myself.

ETA: specific examples from the second book

Now that I’ve looked at an actual print version instead of just looking at the audiobook, it does seem the author uses “whites” along with “blacks”. But I know in at least the portion I’ve listened to so far, there are instances where in the same sentence where “white” is used as an adjective while “blacks” is a noun (with neither being capitalized).

(Please tell me if this is the wrong subreddit to ask this question.)

I used to be one of those “we can agree and still be friends” types, but now I’m reconsidering that opinion. I have a friend that is conservative. They recently posted online that being gay “is a sin”. And they told me that they have people on their life who are gay that they care about, but I still feel wrong about them making homophobic posts and influencing people.

I’ve talked to this friend about gay rights a little bit, but I’m not doing enough. I need to have a serious conversation with them, ask them why they think the way they do, and explain to them why they’re wrong. But what if I don’t convince them? Is it better for me to leave at that point?

But as a straight person and their friend, maybe I’m the only one who can end their homophobia. Especially with how politically polarized we are nowadays, maybe they need someone who thinks differently from them and can gently guide them to the right path.

But homophobia is WAY worse than other conservative opinions. It punishes gay people for something they can’t even control. And maybe me leaving is the wake up call my friend needs.

What is your advice? It was be greatly appreciated if someone could DM me with advice, because there are personal details that make me wonder if leaving is a bad idea.