The Other

Put this in the queue because it kind of made me feel better about my day.

todayinhistory:

April 25th 1898: Spanish-American War begins

On this day in 1898, the United States of America declared war on Spain, thus beginning the Spanish-American War. The war was a result of American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence as Cuba revolted against Spanish rule. The war was over within the year. Cuban independence was secured, and the US had temporary control of Cuba and authority over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

bankuei:

zuky:

As a dude of color who has been working since I was 15 and wore a tie through my 20s, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this lecture from adolescent white dudes who have been reading Nietzsche and Rimbaud. They assume I’m an automaton when they see an Asian man in a suit, that I have no thoughts of my own, I live a constricted life of drudgery with no art or emotion or wild abandon, and that they are revolutionary free spirits who have seen through society’s illusions. But as you can see, third-rate TV writers have these same thoughts so you gotta ask who’s actually the pre-programmed cliche. People who say these things can usually only speak English, wear shoes and sweater vests made in China, have never known life without plumbing and electricity, and can’t catch and cook their own breakfast. Whereas the Asian man in a suit just might live with a free-wheeling cosmic consciousness unbounded by the English language and the constrictions of Eurocentrism, does whatever his fluttering human heart desires when you’re not looking, spent the weekend transcending mundane consciousness itself in orgiastic rapture or sitting next to a waterfall or running naked through the forest howling at the moon. Sometimes deep thoughts are shallow, free thinking is cliche, and cliche is freeing.

White people assume because they’ve never questioned their culture, no one else has. 

My father was beaten by the teachers anytime he spoke Chinese - to the point he refused to teach me - is that non-questioning acceptance of a sheep?  The Catholic Church only agreed to help a friend’s family escape genocide on the condition of conversion - is that mindless religious acceptance? 

White violence very often leaves a lot of us with little choices but to blend in as much as possible, to take the most conservative of appearances.  That’s not blindly following, that’s camouflage in the face of violent predators.

Of course, white narcissism means the minute they discover something for themselves, obviously the rest of the world has never thought of it and simply needs a white person to enlighten them.

cognitivedissonance:

If you’re a college student, you may have seen “crushes” pages like this one at the University of Wyoming called “UW Crushes”. People anonymously submit their “crushes” like “girl in geometry, I wish I could talk to you…” or “Dude next to me on the treadmill, I adore you…” — or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Well, at the University of Wyoming page (unaffiliated with the school, as far as anyone can tell), the admins have a different approach. Even if someone is named, they post it. Even if it’s disgusting, offensive, and vaguely threatening, they post it. Like the message posted about me above.

The admins claim they have a policy that if someone named wants it taken down, they will remove the post. However, the person named is not tagged, and will not know about the post until they are either notified by someone following the page, or are tagged in the comments. The page admins make no effort to notify anyone, and there are no disclaimers stating they do not endorse any of the comments posted.

I didn’t receive word of this post until late this afternoon, at least an hour or so after it was published. My friends began messaging me about it. The admins have defended content like this before, but they’re silent right now. 

I’m encouraging every single person that follows me, all 55,991 of you, to let them know this kind of misogyny is not okay. Comment on the status, since the page IS public. Comment on the page if they remove this post. Imagine if I had not been told about this — or if something like this is posted about another student, and lo and behold, they become a victim of sexual violence. It’s likely people like this are all talk and no action. But threats like this are 100% unacceptable. Remember, it took a creeper to think this up and type it — but it took an admin to approve and post it.

It’s time to fight back against this kind of harassment. Everyone has the right to feel safe on their campuses. It’s one thing to say that the girl next to you in the library has a beautiful smile. It’s another to say you’re going to “hatefuck” someone to make them “a good Republican bitch.”

I am asking everyone to push back, not with threats, but with their beliefs that no one deserves this kind of thing posted about them publicly. This IS an example of rape culture. So let them know (and others if there’s a page like this at your university.) Be civil, but be firm.

Thank you.

Cheers,
Meg

Update, 7:35 PM MDT: The post appears to have been hidden from their timeline but it is still public. Use this direct link to comment.