this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2026
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askchapo

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[Advice wanted]How much investigation is sufficient for someone to have the "right to speak" on a topic for which they are an outsider? [Serious] (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 month ago by Acute_Engles@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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[The tone of this post is earnest, not in any way meant to be a complaint. I want to be a better comrade]

I'm someone with a very dense cross-section of privileges. (If i didn't grow up poor i might win the least oppressed demographic trophy)

This makes me feel as though I cannot speak on anything important without coming across like I'm whitemansplaining, regardless of whether I consider myself knowledgeable on the topic.

Should i just accept that my voice isn't really needed in most conversations? (A white guy telling an iranian expat that Reza Pahlavi was actually not good for iranians isn't ever going to accomplish anything, is it?)

Not to say I'm an encyclopedia of theory but i consider myself well enough read to apply dialectical and historical materialist analysis to most topics.

I spend a lot of time around people of all walks of life and I feel as though it's kinda disrespectful of me to pipe up and correct the record on basically any topic beyond the mundane like videogame strategy.

I guess i don't even really know what kind of answer I'm looking for here. Maybe just validation that it's ok for me to be silent when someone is just plain wrong about an important topic? Idk. Thanks for reading

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[–] ExtimateCookie@hexbear.net 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I might be wrong on this, but I think a white person with a privileged position does not necessarily speak always from a position totally skewed and distorted by said privilege. There's a way that you can identify with the oppressed and speak from a position that contributes to helping the oppressed. This silence cut both ways because the imperial machine will selectively use voices from some country to propagate its interests in the region. So not picking a side can actuality help the war machine limit the voice of people to the ones it selects. For example limit Chinese voices to those opposed to the Chinese regime and limit Iranian voices to the ones wanting it to be bombed. I am not white and not American and I don't see any issue if a white person approached me to discuss issues as long as they don't come from any position that they already know what's going on. If someone is humble and willing to learn then I don't see any harm being done.