[a character looks sad in front of a sad city, under the sunset]
Things aren't looking great…
It sucks when the state kills people
Wish we could do something about it
[the character is now in front of their TV, showing ICE agents surrounding a bleeding corpse on the floor]
Wait… this time they killed WHITE people
This means it could happen to me too?!
[an angry crowd is demonstrating, holding various signs such as…]
THIS TIME YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR
I DRAW THE LINE HERE
TOLERATE NO MORE
2025-31-12, Keith Porter, shot and killed by ICE agents
2025-09-12, Silverio Villegas González, shot and killed by ICE agents
2025-07-28, Jaime Alanis Garcia, shot and killed by ICE agents
27 shootings by ICE in 2025,
8 of which were lethal
31 deaths in ICE custody in 2025
11 deaths in ICE custody in 2024
7 deaths in ICE custody in 2023
3 deaths in ICE custody in 2022
5 deaths in ICE custody in 2021
18 deaths in ICE custody in 2020
9 deaths in ICE custody in 2019
9 deaths in ICE custody in 2028
Better late than never, we can hold ppl accountable for inaction AFTER we beat the system
If you don't address the inaction, you won't beat the system. "We can address all the systemic issues in our movement after our movement succeeds" has borne out in history approximately 0 times. More often either the movement fails entirely or it's coopted by its most conservative elements who turn it into something completely different.
If action is your goal, then when you see action, you support it. Address the inaction of those who are not acting, and support those who are. Bitching about the way it was is not helpful.
No part of what you said addresses my point, so I'll repeat myself: Resistance movements have to worry about being coopted from the inside almost as much as they do about being crushed from the outside. Introspection and self-awareness are crucial if this movement is going to survive. Internal conflict is often rightly cited as a danger to any movement, but it's also a survival mechanism that shouldn't be shut down out of hand.
You have a point. But currently people are doing the right thing. Should we stop? What do you suggest we do about it right now in this moment?
I mean, there's no one right answer, and other people probably have better ideas for radicalizing moderate movements, but there are wrong answers and shutting down internal criticism as "divisive" or whatever the centrist thought terminating cliche of the day is is definitely one of them, and on that front this thread is not a good indication. If I had to say something it'd be "maintain minimum standards and don't compromise with centrists," but that's not really the point I'm making here. People need to be confronted with their biases and pushed to be better if they're going to, you know, be better (which is necessary because feckless moderate liberals don't overthrow fascists).
Here's how I see it: people have himmed and hawwed around while trump's America turns into a hellscape. Horrible things happening by the second, you can't refresh your news fast enough before another tragedy happens. We keep hearing about protesters in Portland, Chicago, Philadelphia. About people delivering groceries and running errands for people who are afraid to leave their house. I've never seen so many people in my town show up to protest. And I'm so fucking proud of these people.
Then something snaps and people really start showing up, standing outside in 20 below zero to let trump know they don't accept him. And I feel hope for the first time in weeks, months, years.
And someone comes in and says YOU'RE WRONG FOR FEELING GOOD EVERYTHING ISN'T PREFECT SO THEREFORE EVERYTHING IS WRONG THIS PROGRESS MEANS NOTHING STOP FEELING GOOD YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD
So, I get where you're coming from but also fuck you.
Yeah no i was totally wrong dont know why i said that. Its maybe that this meme seemed to undermine the cureent mobilization?
Like, we do need to address it but how do we minimize the resistance that comes from the defensiveness of "dont call me bigot?"
Certainly we can't let this fear allow us to postpone a critical component of change.
People, especially heteronormative white people really, REALLY conflate accountability with an attack on their pride, it's a cultural heritage the deconstruction of which can only be sparked from inside.
We all need to learn that past mistakes are only a permanent mark if we do nothing to change them
I mean, I have no idea but anyone will get defensive over something this simple then they can frankly take a hike. Movements can (and in fact are more likely to) succeed without selling their souls to the centrist devil.
Yes, but the first step of the process of rectifying past mistakes is for someone to point out those mistakes. Someone who rejects criticism of their past mistakes outright is nothing more than a liability.
But not everyone rejects because of malice. But often of ignorance.
The "centrist devil" has become another absolutism born from justice.
I am not saying water down the gravity, i'm just asking if we can do better in shortening the gap between defensiveness and acceptance, and redemption.
Most of what i see at least in my country Italy in regards to racism and structural issues is playing holier-than-thou and finger pointing.
Being right is not enough. Making new ways of "us vs them" between ordinary people, those that are bystanders to the oppression, is simply repeating past mistake, just as it would be a grave mistake to diminish the gravity of what's to heal.
It seems impossible to solve, but the already woke were asleep once too