Newest "anti-woke" tantrum: Right-wingers don't think kids of different races can be friends

MicroWave@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 704 points – Newest "anti-woke" tantrum: Right-wingers don't think kids of different races can be friends
salon.com

A bizarre racist outburst at a Texas school board isn't an isolated event — it's part of a national pattern

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When another trustee asked Dungan if she personally objected to an illustration of cross-racial friendship, she demurred, simply declaring that she was just trying to avoid "situations like that." Situations like what, exactly? She didn't say. Dungan's behavior is a perfect illustration of the "anti-woke" tap dance. The person alleging nefarious wokeness never admits to their own bigotry, instead pretending that they're reacting to "woke" people who are "pushing" an agenda, in this case through innocuous poster art. Of course, the entire premise of the argument is rooted in bigotry, as this example shows. It presumes that the feelings of real or imagined bigots who might take umbrage at such an image are of paramount importance, and that everyone else's freedoms must be curtailed to appease them.

Fucking thank you, Amanda Marcotte. Nail on the head.

And thank you for using the word “innocuous” because my god it’s a picture of people holding hands in a school. It probably had something like “teamwork makes the dream work” on it because holy fuck these people probably boil their eyeballs in piss before they stick them in their sockets.

Yeah, it's good to see reporters actually pressing back on these blatant trolls with their well understood tactics. It's a shame, however, that the more centrist media is rarely willing to do the same. It's a common trap that people think you must give equal time to both sides in order to be fair. Reality is that some sides are so dumb and inconsequential that they don't deserve any air time.

It's stupid that the school district even moved the kid to a different class. They never should have caved an inch. That just empowers these maniacs to keep doing this racist, time wasting drivel.

It presumes that the feelings of real or imagined bigots who might take umbrage at such an image are of paramount importance, and that everyone else's freedoms must be curtailed to appease them.

I don't know why this made it click in my head but yeah, they think their imagined hurt feelings are more important than everyone else.

According to ABC 13 Eyewitness News in Houston, things started when school trustee Melissa Dungan declared that she had spoken to parents who were upset about "displays of personal ideologies in classrooms." When pressed for an example, according to the news report, "Dungan referred to a first grade student whose parent claimed they were so upset by a poster showing hands of people of different races, that they transferred classrooms." … Some other members of the school board did, in fact, argue that there was nothing objectionable about such a poster. But Dungan was backed up by another trustee, Misty Odenweller, who insisted that the depiction of uh, race-mixing was in some way a "violation of the law." The two women are part of "Mama Bears Rising," a secretive far-right group fueling the book-banning mania in Conroe and the surrounding area. At least 59 books have been banned due to their efforts.

WTF

Oh shit, new Klanned Karenhood just dropped!

So I guess 'Mom's for Liberty' had to start the rebranding process after getting caught quoting Hitler?

Mama Bear Rising, fuck this Sarah Palin sounding bullshit.

Humans are animals...

If we're not socialized with other races while young, then we grow up thinking of other races as "them" instead of "us". It's instincts from when we lived in tribes and anyone that you didn't grow up around was the enemy. But the same as a dog needing to be exposed to other animals while young so they're used to them as an adult.

Which is why adult racists have an issue with non-segregated schools.

They want kids to grow up and be racist like they are. They want the next generation to only look as deep as skin color to determine if someone is friend or foe.

Same reason Alabama banned Sesame Street long after PBS had it in every other state.

The individual racists probably don't understand it, but the ones leading the mobs understand the psychology behind this shit. Like how in American History X Ed Norton didn't understand what he was doing, but the old asshole in charge was playing chess. Dont discount racists as idiots that don't know any better. Some are actually smart and manipulating the mob of uneducated idiots.

Same reason Alabama banned Sesame Street long after PBS had it in every other state.

My mother would edit our episodes on VCR with all the spanish parts and visiting other countries out. So we could only watch that show on tape, never off the TV itself.

There is a reason why I have never felt the need to introduce her to her grandchildern.

I remember flipping channels as a kid and happening upon a Spanish-language channel that was playing a fully subbed and dubbed Spanish recording of Sesame Street. I just remember watching in awe as I saw the exact same show I've always watched but in a completely different language

I firmly believe that lack of exposure to people of different cultures or races leads people to be racist and not necessarily realize it. If you're never around X, how can you know you have an inappropriate reaction to X?

To illustrate this, I didn't know about my escalator phobia until I moved away for college. I entered the mall, saw these moving stair-things, and felt a deep fear in the pit of my stomach. I hadn't seen an escalator since I was a toddler and, if you'd asked me on high school, I'd have denied having a phobia.

(I've successfully worked on my phobia over the last decade, showing that changing inappropriate reactions is possible)

I dunno, white people in the antebellum south had lots of exposure to people of different cultures/races (aka the slaves on which they were economically dependent) and they still managed to be racist as fuck. I think waving away racism as just the result of ignorance obscures its real character as straight-up exploitation of other human beings.

I don't believe ignorance or lack of familiarity is the root of all racism, or even most, just a factor in some of it.

I grew up in a practically all-white school system because I grew up in a practically all-white rural county. I had to unlearn a lot of things when I move to New England. A lot of people never leave their comfort zone.

I believe exposing kids to people from varied backgrounds helps them not grow up to be bigoted. I don't believe it's fair to expect minority kids to represent their minority--I had a small taste of that growing up with an unusual last name and accent in my town. I don't know how to reconcile those two beliefs.

Yes. My experience has been that nobody is as racist as Northern men who move to Florida. My ex said he went to "the white school" in Michigan, up north is segregated for real. We had enforced school integration but as a kid I was not aware of it, just went to school with school kids - it still got sort of segregated but not really, and my kids even less so, it does work.

But then those guys move down here and are not prepared for how diverse our population is. And they react badly.

In the South a black guy can be your neighbor but never your boss, in the North a black guy can be your boss but never your neighbor.

Pretty much the same in any country with a majority ethnic population. They lived in an area for hundreds, sometimes fighting wars for it, and so it's not easy to have them give away their lands to people who are completely different down to the religion and imagine a completely different future. America is being pushed to have a civil war over it though likely to other countries interest. One that is very ethnically populated mind you.

You can call it faith if you want. I think humans can share resources with other humans even if they are different without civil wars.

So it wasn't the student, it was the kids PARENT that was offended

These people are mentally disturbed and they probably shouldn't be allowed to have kids

It's never the young kids that get offended by this stuff. That sort of bigotry is taught.

The two women are part of "Mama Bears Rising," a secretive far-right group fueling the book-banning mania in Conroe and the surrounding area.

Do these idiots seriously not have something better to do than to worry about other people reading books. Good god, if I spent my whole life so worried about what other people would doing I don't think I'd ever live.

Been racist actually takes effort, the lazy thing to do is to accept everyone equally. Because who cares?

Dungan's behavior is a perfect illustration of the "anti-woke" tap dance. The person alleging nefarious wokeness never admits to their own bigotry, instead pretending that they're reacting to "woke" people who are "pushing" an agenda, in this case through innocuous poster art.

That is a very good take.

Also: it's always projection. Conservatives push an agenda, so they assume everyone else does too.

I really want people to start considering "woke" a slur. Its basically just a word the far right uses for people they don't like, aka minorities.

I really want people to learn the actual meaning of the word - it really says it all. And normally I argue for lingual drift and accepting the changed meaning of words, but in this case most people don't know the definition, but aside from a racial/identity implication, they're using it mostly correctly

Woke means looking at the system critically, not believing the things politicians and public officials tell you at face value, seeing how it's all designed to turn us against each other so we never attempt meaningful change.

In a phrase, it means "wake up to the lies and think for yourself"

This sure sounds like their next step will be insisting on segregation.

We all know what "Make America Great Again" means.

I mean, they couldn't go with George Wallace's "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" quite yet...

Holy crap, I was just reading his Wikipedia page. He is such a piece of shit. His wife died of cancer in May 1968. Her doctor had told him, not her, of the diagnosis in 1961 and he kept it secret from her. I knew about the segregation stuff, but that is just the shit frosting on the shit cake.

What made it even worse was that she was technically the governor when she died. Alabama had a law back then that prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms. However, there was no rule against a woman running for governor. So George got his wife Lurleen, who had cancer at the time, to run for governor in his place. She won, but everyone knew who the governor really was.

When you hear them use dogwhistles remember that Wallace actually joked afterward that he should have said "states rights now, states rights tomorrow, states rights forever". These monsters know exactly what they're doing.

This is why I enjoy playing dumb to the dogwhistles and asking the awkward questions out loud. "States rights? State's rights to do what exactly?"

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Next step? They're already doing it. You don't need to be overtly racist to segregate communities fyi, income brackets and gerrymandering do a wonderful job at promoting racial segregation without the need to be outwardly bigoted

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this is how it is for some people when there are non-white characters in movies, they consider it "pushing an agenda" when there's nothing like that happening. it's like they think people of other races just.. don't exist? therefore they should not be in movies? i don't really get it

There are only two races, white and political

Because there is nothing to get besides racism. The very very few edge cases out there where race mattered and was miscast never get mentioned because usually the person who did it wrong says sorry and there is no story. You are giving the enemy too much credit.

And yes I don't think she was miscast in Annihilation. The second book came out after they started making the movie (which is when that one line about her facial features was put in) and the fact that she had partial Asian ancestry wasn't plot important in any of the 3 books.

My problem is the race switching. It is so stupid and is done in stories already told. There are tons of stories that have not been told about the race you are race swapping with. Why can't we tell their stories instead.

Or when they put random people of colour in historical dramas. I get that they need to somehow include actors of all origins, but I can't help but feel like it's also a kind of white washing? Like, sorry but a black person would not be a noble at the Louis XIV court, how about you actually talk about what history was like from that perspective rather than just shoehorning the actors and pretend like everything was fine and dandy for people of colour in those days.

It's almost like conservatives are racist and want to indoctinate kids into their conservative ideology of hate.

It is now woke to be in the same room as another race.

Add it to the list.

Hey, can we start calling things they like woke? Like Jesus Trump and church and flags n stuff? I bet we can destroy this word by just stealing it back.

Jesus was woke AF by their own loose definition of the word.

Radical compassionate homeless asexual socialist. He's woke af. I'm not a 100% sure on what woke is yet but I'm certain Jesus is woke.

asexual

Mary Magdalene might've disagreed.

They could have been bible study buddies 😂

Trump voters would've been the Romans crucifying Jesus because he was "disrespecting Roman authority" at the time and being a nuisance.

I think the MAGAs would've been the Jewish establishment in your analogy, while the Romans would've merely been "enlightened centrist" liberals who didn't really give a shit but wanted to keep order.

They are definitely turning on Jesus and have been for quite some time now. There is an interesting statement from the former head of SBC wherein he states churchgoers are finding Jesus' supposed teachings as being too woke and part of a liberal agenda. Can't make this up. It was only a matter of time.

But Jesus also didn't like mixing. That is why he instructed the apostles and other adherents to never teach gentiles and Samaritans. That was retconned years later by the church because they said people had visions of a resurrected jesus commanding them to mix with gentiles. But for a while there it was very much a racial/ethno in-group only. That is why Jesus supposedly stated he taught in parables; so gentiles wouldnt understand what he was talking about and find salvation. That is what Matthew 13:11-17 is about.

People need to stop characterizing Jesus as some socialists woke advocate like I see in this thread. His character wasn't. He didn't preach universal love and compassion, and he taught contradictory messages about pacifism probably because dozens of people created this character over centuries.

I honestly think people want to think the religion can't be that bad and that the adherents are just awful.

Many scholars believe that the reason they were told to not preach to Samaritans and Gentiles was that his disciples were not ready to face cross cultural rejection. This is because of their earlier exposure to this rejection by Samaritans in which they wanted to respond by fire and brimstone. Jesus rebuked this response then. Later on, he instructs them to make disciples of all nations.

The passages in Matthew are referring to those that do not listen to his teachings (by choice), not the Gentiles. He's saying they will not receive his blessings if they do not listen and learn from his teachings.

💀

Let's not forget that these same people kept telling us to and I quote: "WAKE UP SHEEPLE" And now they get all pissed off that people woke up.

Also what is the opposite of woke? Sleep? Go to sleep? Sounds dystopian as fuck.

Not to mention the QAnon shit with "the great awakening" where "the deep state" finally gets exposed and locked up. These people are morons.

No offence, but Joe Rogaine was a moron from the start and his podcasts were always bottom of the barrel garbage

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Even disregarding all bigotry and racism that this screams of, it's dumb af because kids can be friends with FUCKING rocks. It's pretty much their superpower.

Rocks, butterflies, smear on the window or imaginary. But a different skin colour? Oh my gosh, never!

I know a kid who had pill bug friends in 7th grade... 🤓

Wow what a shocker. Just saying the quiet part out loud. At least they're consistent in their racism.

thats not new at all, I remember there being traces of that still in everyday interactions as a kid. Theres nothing new about the hate they are spewing, thats what makes it extra vile to me.

it is just a lot more in the open now. And sadly most of people I know genuinely side with right most out of believe that it is the more neutral or agenda free stance.

Tell me again why they aren't nazis

I mean, some of them are. Many of them are nazi-lite. They get upset if you point it out, though. A lot of them probably believe they are fine upstanding patriots. A few can be talked to, and some can even change, but most just dig in deeper, so the problem doesn't seem likely to go away; it seems to be getting worse.

I'm ok for removing nazi-lite at the same time as nazi, though.

My wife tells me she thinks that I am being over dramatic when I say we need to start thinking about exit strategies for fleeing the US, and then stuff like this pops up.

You’re not being overdramatic. I’ve been thinking about an exit since 2020. I plan to have it figured out in advance of the next election so that I can flip a switch and go. Don’t wait for disaster. Have an exit decided and hope you don’t need it.

We need to stop diminishing racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of bigotry by calling them anti-woke.

Lol! I was born in Ukraine, my best friend was born in Venezuela.

What a bunch of crap.

I'm mixed and I get along pretty well with myself. Suck it Texas.

This is my favorite part about racists worrying about white people becoming a minority. It's only because they don't consider mixed kids as their progeny. Your "white" genes aren't being murdered by "black" genes inside your grandaughter. They're both just kinda in there and that's fine.

You can't explain this to these people.

Four indictments on Donald Trump and they still think it's a conspiracy.

That's just straight up racism.

We wouldn't want kids' eyes opened by spending time with people different from them. We must keep them ignorant and hateful.

Bears deserve better than to be associated with these freaks.

Freaks deserve better than to be associated with these... entities.

Thats not "anti woke" thats just racism dumb ass

To be fair, racism is absolutely one of the core values of anti woke ideology.

There is a good argument to be made for grinding right wingers up for compost to grow flowers.

How about a less biased source? I don't think salon could say something positive about a conservative parent if they wanted to...

What's there to say? There's a reasonable, economically conservative party in America, and it's called the Democratic Party.

Nice comment to break your Lemmy cherry on btw. Defending an outright segregationist, if you had read the article for even a paragraph.

Hey thanks! It's great to be here.

I think it's important to exercise some intellectual humility and be open to other sources and be willing to question information that we agree with if it's coming from a single source - especially if that source has an open bias.

Are you claiming they didn't quote them accurately or that they didn't spin the story to make racists look like the good guys?

We don't know what we don't know - I would begin with a less biased source or include two sources with contrary biases.

Hope y'all realize this is just rage bait. Like when conservative bloggers pass of a couple of tweets from tankies as the official stance for every Democrat and left wing movement.

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