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Are You Showing Support for Black Lives Matter in Second Life?


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7 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

The problem is there isn't a discussion going on between POC and whites. It's an argument between whites that should be listening instead of talking. There is no point in discussing if no one is listening. I do mean listen, not just hear. And that is why there aren't many POC in this thread trying to discuss the issues.

 

One of the first things that girl said in the vid Ashlyn posted, was something like "If you're disturbed by all of this, then you're white." Very true. I have been disturbed by it, and I am white. And the few POC who posted their story here, I listened; but can only do so, insofar as those stories are being told. But, disturbed as I am, I still also want to talk about these things. Talking helps, creates awareness, makes one think.

But please, don't give this a weird twist now by insinuating I am somehow preventing POC from speaking up.

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Just now, Selene Gregoire said:

Just making sure. glomp.gif.47f308a58cb15b6a288725d86deebf1f.gif

/me nods. I went back to look at what I wrote and realized the peeve=people could be misconstrued to being peeved at your remark, so I changed it. You know me, people are always my peeve.

I appreciate the "just making sure" because we all should be doing that because tensions are high and a lot of people are taking a lot of things incorrectly, including me (like thinking Lyssa's comment about looting was directed to me because of unfortunate timing of cross posting).

:::more hugs:::

And I was in the middle of departing when I got sidetracked by that excellent Youtube from Ashlyn. So now I'm going to finish that departing thing, for oh so many reasons.  When are you going to pop over the beach edge and go underwater? (Rhetorical, because: leaving. :) )

 

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1 hour ago, Beth Macbain said:

It’s pretty gross how this thread that was supposed to be about BLM has turned into white people arguing about looting.

Truth be told, the OP was asking who was doing what in SL to show support.  Thus everything outside of that is truly off topic.

The OP wasn't asking for a general BLM discussion, yet it has gone there and that is fine.  By the same token, since the issue of looting, rioting, vandalism, etc... is often a part of demonstrations/protesting for BLM & black issues, then those sub-topics really are and should be part of the conversation also.  If those sub-topics are taboo, a portion of the population will simply turn away and not listen to anything.  You cannot tell people that they have to discuss issue X, but only the sub-topics of X that you want.  

 

 

No matter how hard or painful any of these discussions seem to anyone, these are exactly the kinds of discussions/arguments/etc.. that need to happen.  Yes, we fight over words, because words have meaning to us.  While those meanings are sometimes different for different people, that does not make them wrong.

Trying to make these conversations be nice and only say the right things, is exactly the kind of crap that keeps us in the modes and mindsets that folks are in.  It is only through the statement of views and the discussions of them that there is any chance of real action/change.  The suppression of thoughts/views from ANY side is wrong.  

  

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12 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

 

Truth be told, the OP was asking who was doing what in SL to show support.  Thus everything outside of that is truly off topic.

The OP wasn't asking for a general BLM discussion, yet it has gone there and that is fine.  By the same token, since the issue of looting, rioting, vandalism, etc... is often a part of demonstrations/protesting for BLM & black issues, then those sub-topics really are and should be part of the conversation also.  If those sub-topics are taboo, a portion of the population will simply turn away and not listen to anything.  You cannot tell people that they have to discuss issue X, but only the sub-topics of X that you want.  

 

 

No matter how hard or painful any of these discussions seem to anyone, these are exactly the kinds of discussions/arguments/etc.. that need to happen.  Yes, we fight over words, because words have meaning to us.  While those meanings are sometimes different for different people, that does not make them wrong.

Trying to make these conversations be nice and only say the right things, is exactly the kind of crap that keeps us in the modes and mindsets that folks are in.  It is only through the statement of views and the discussions of them that there is any chance of real action/change.  The suppression of thoughts/views from ANY side is wrong.  

  

I agree LittleMe.  There is a lot happening in the world now right along with the protests, plus people may be hearing about BLM for the first time.  I'd like to hear what others have to say without trying to shut them up.  I did not find anyone a troll.  But, every thread someone is called a troll.  It seems it cannot be helped here.  

However, yes this was supposed to be about BLM in SL.  I don't want politics in my inworld SL so I will not be partaking of BLM inworld.  If others do, heck that's perfectly okay.   And, if I change my mind for my inworld experience, that's okay too.  

Edited by FairreLilette
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48 minutes ago, Gatogateau said:

I'm glad that I hadn't quite left yet and saw this. THANK YOU!!!!!! I've hit subscribe on her channel and will get more from that than listening to all the choir preaching to themselves here. I have a low tolerance for being able to watch real life violence, it does affect me and my PTSD. I did watch the snuff film of Mr. Floyd's murder. I had not watched the video of the old guy being pushed down by the Buffalo police. I knew of it but... didn't know that the guy was white and that one cop started to help him up and was pulled away from helping. What shocked me was seeing how many white protestors were getting shot and beaten, and more white people (especially those who watch FOX) need to see that. If they don't get enraged about blacks getting beaten/killed maybe seeing white people beaten/killed will wake them up??? I found myself both shaking my head up and down in agreement with the narrator, such as "if y'all were shocked by this then you weren't paying attention" etc (and heavily paraphrased) and shaking my head side to side at watching the videos and listening to the story about the LA chief of police and his photo op vs what went on immediately following. Anyway, I'm rambling, because I'm really thankful for this new resource. I look forward to watching more.

I enjoy watching her videos, but compared to another black female YouTube who I prefer and am more in tune with more, she’s very PG and more so caters to everyone. She’s not as radical which works for her, I suppose. 
 
I don’t know why people are so surprised at American racism towards black people. I can name a slew of incidents. I’ll happily link them:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1918_lynchings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood_massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan (Still active, might I add, and not considered a terrorist group. Not the only white supremacy group either).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_of_Laura_and_L._D._Nelson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_of_Michael_Donald
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newberry_Six_lynchings
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocoee_massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_race_riot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_race_riot_of_1919
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Duluth_lynchings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_of_Thomas_Shipp_and_Abram_Smith
 

There are so much more, by the way. I could go on. 
 

Also, for those of you outside the “United” States, please take a gander at this to learn a little more of the history of this country:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_representation_in_Hollywood

And, also if there’s a film I can recommend for you all to watch, it’s called Bamboozled by Spike Lee. 

 

 

Edited by Ashlyn Voir
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And, I mean this with no shade, but it is not our duty as black Americans to teach white people or non-black people of color how to be accepting or not racist or how to support black people. Google is there for a reason. Always educate yourselves. Period. 
 

Also, being so immersed in your privilege to be so blinded by the reality of this country should say a lot. I’m not even done listing things:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School-to-prison_pipeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism

Edited by Ashlyn Voir
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3 minutes ago, Ashlyn Voir said:

I don’t know why people are so surprised at American racism towards black people. I can name a slew of incidents. I’ll happily link them:

Not every white person is surprised. I wasn't. I wasn't shocked that this is happening. I mean, yeah, watching someone get murdered for nearly 9 minutes *is* shocking, but a lot of "us" do understand, on some levels, that this is daily for POC. I think a lot, but certainly not all, of the posters on this thread understand, on some level. We can only understand on "some level" because it was like the poverty thing. I understood it, the problems of being poor in America, but until I was extremely poor myself I truly didn't get it. The fact that we can only understand it on some level doesn't preclude us from being allies. :)

As to the PG Youtuber... good choice. :) I'm not up for radically militant at the moment. 

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16 minutes ago, Ashlyn Voir said:

And, I mean this with no shade, but it is not our duty as black Americans to teach white people or non-black people of color how to be accepting or not racist or how to support black people. Google is there for a reason. Always educate yourselves. Period. 

Sorry, I'm having a bit of a convo here...

Amen to this. 

You are not there to sing and dance for us (and yes I meant that in the racial way, sarcastically racial?) and to spoon feed us reality. I do hope though, to have conversations,  to hear points of views and opinions, to hear personal stories. They help. Hopefully there's a difference between that and feeling like you need to teach us the way not to be putzes. 

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And, my apologies for rambling but it should not have to take for whites being attacked or killed or harmed by the police for [white] people to wake up and get something done. People don’t even see black people as human, so many don’t even care about what happens to us. At all. Matter of fact, people labeled us as sub-human for centuries. It’s only when it’s happening to whites is when something will most likely be done and that’s even more infuriating because I know it will happen again and again to more and more black people before one day many of us become tired of it all together and then a racial war happens. 

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I might have gone in a little too hard with the Klan comment, but white people all over the place are outing themselves by feeling like the looting has to be part of the conversation. It’s not like they’re real racists but they have to talk about how the looters need to be punished, instead of about why young black men and women are so angry that they loot the corner store.

I think I know how they are able to justify it, but it’s not my question to answer.

I’m guilty of engaging in white-think, too. I’ve had a couple of times in my life where I’ve said or done something that was absolutely unintentional, but also absolutely racist, and I’ve been called out on it by black friends. I had the choice of being defensive, because I really didn’t see anything troubling in my words, or consider the reality of my words and actions to their eyes and ears and learn the why behind it.

So, sure, we can talk about the looting, but we need to look at the why as well. Or y’all can. Or don’t. I don’t think I have anything useful to say around here anymore, so I’m bowing out. 

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Off topic, but people who pretend to have blocked you, but then stalk you to trash your posts and utterly misrepresent what you say are funny, aren't they?  I blocked it (for realz, lol).

Anyway, Bristol looked like fun today.  That pos should have been drowned at birth, but better late than never!

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9 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I might have gone in a little too hard with the Klan comment, but white people all over the place are outing themselves by feeling like the looting has to be part of the conversation. It’s not like they’re real racists but they have to talk about how the looters need to be punished, instead of about why young black men and women are so angry that they loot the corner store.

I think I know how they are able to justify it, but it’s not my question to answer.

I’m guilty of engaging in white-think, too. I’ve had a couple of times in my life where I’ve said or done something that was absolutely unintentional, but also absolutely racist, and I’ve been called out on it by black friends. I had the choice of being defensive, because I really didn’t see anything troubling in my words, or consider the reality of my words and actions to their eyes and ears and learn the why behind it.

So, sure, we can talk about the looting, but we need to look at the why as well. Or y’all can. Or don’t. I don’t think I have anything useful to say around here anymore, so I’m bowing out. 

Ever hear of a sideways apology? You "might" have gone too far with the Klan comment BUT... faux apology or concession, however it was intended.

Scylla said she didn't give a damn about Target (big box) stores getting burned down because it was "justifiable" damage. I think she's "dead wrong" (something she said of me earlier). I find that not only wrong, but a condescending (Selene's better word) attitude toward the people one is supposedly backing.

I have not been guilty of white think, at least not in this thread, not any more than the rest of the whites posting. I think others have been trying to out PC, out virtue, out Liberal each other and are too stuck on individual words to even see the conversation. Pavlovian responses.

I resented your representation of "Black lives matter BUT there is looting"... because there was no BUT in at least some of the conversation and I'm disappointed that theorectically like-minded people are too busy trying to get indignant and one-up each other on "correctness" that there isn't any discussion but a lot of white people bickering at each other over semantics.

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Apparently this thread is going to continue to be about one person's hurt feelings (just count all the "I" sentences if you think that isn't the case), so I am bowing out as well. The real conversation was good while it lasted, and I thank those who contributed relevant stories. 

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5 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

Apparently this thread is going to continue to be about one person's hurt feelings (just count all the "I" sentences if you think that isn't the case), so I am bowing out as well. The real conversation was good while it lasted, and I thank those who contributed relevant stories. 

And once again... I suppose if you were accused of being "Klan-ish" that you'd not take that personally and only write in the third person. Good to know.

Also, ETA: Again, since we're ALL writing from our own POV, our own experiences, our own opinions, there are necessarily going to be a lot of *I* statements. But only the approved *I* statements are allowed or the posts aren't relevant. Also good to know.

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2 hours ago, kiramanell said:

 

One of the first things that girl said in the vid Ashlyn posted, was something like "If you're disturbed by all of this, then you're white." Very true. I have been disturbed by it, and I am white. And the few POC who posted their story here, I listened; but can only do so, insofar as those stories are being told. But, disturbed as I am, I still also want to talk about these things. Talking helps, creates awareness, makes one think.

But please, don't give this a weird twist now by insinuating I am somehow preventing POC from speaking up.

In no way, shape or form am I trying to shut anyone up and I don't appreciate the insinuation. This is what happens every time POC try to speak up. They get accused of trying to shut the discussion down, when it's the exact opposite, by the very people who say they want to listen.

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51 minutes ago, Gatogateau said:

And once again... I suppose if you were accused of being "Klan-ish" that you'd not take that personally and only write in the third person. Good to know.

Also, ETA: Again, since we're ALL writing from our own POV, our own experiences, our own opinions, there are necessarily going to be a lot of *I* statements. But only the approved *I* statements are allowed or the posts aren't relevant. Also good to know.

I agree with almost nothing you write.  But this^.  It took you this long to figure this out?

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1 hour ago, Ashlyn Voir said:

being so immersed in your privilege to be so blinded by the reality of this country should say a lot

I'm curious. Do you...or the 'BLM' organization for that matter...actually WANT support from white people?  Asking because I've not seen anyone other than white people mention that we should "all stand together as one!" since this, or any other tragedy of this type occured.
 

 

1 hour ago, Ashlyn Voir said:

Also, for those of you outside the “United” States, please take a gander at this to learn a little more of the history of this country

Most of us already know about it but apart from voicing our opinions (yes, we're allowed them to) on here, I'm not sure what you want us to do with such knowledge?  

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Just now, Selene Gregoire said:

In no way, shape or form am I trying to shut anyone up and I don't appreciate the insinuation. This is what happens every time POC try to speak up. They get accused of trying to shut the discussion down, when it's the exact opposite, by the very people who say they want to listen.

 

See, you're doing it right now. STOP IT! You came out of the blue, insinuating I somehow stopped POC from speaking, as if my speaking, as a white person, somehow stopped any POC from talking about the matter. Again, I strongly ressent the accusation. You trying to twist this whole little fight, you started yourself, into me now being a racist somehow, is despicable. Find a new target.

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1 minute ago, kiramanell said:

 

See, you're doing it right now. STOP IT! You came out of the blue, insinuating I somehow stopped POC from speaking, as if my speaking, as a white person, somehow stopped any POC from talking about the matter. Again, I strongly ressent the accusation. You trying to twist this whole little fight, you started yourself, into me now being a racist somehow, is despicable. Find a new target.

I never said you did anything of the sort. You said I was trying to keep you from speaking up when that was not the case at all. Done with this.

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1 minute ago, kiramanell said:

 

See, you're doing it right now. STOP IT! You came out of the blue, insinuating I somehow stopped POC from speaking, as if my speaking, as a white person, somehow stopped any POC from talking about the matter. Again, I strongly ressent the accusation. You trying to twist this whole little fight, you started yourself, into me now being a racist somehow, is despicable. Find a new target.

She/he/it/they/them/her/him/nonwhite/whitey/ is notorious for such language in this forum.  And hides behind wretchedness. 

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7 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

I never said you did anything of the sort. You said I was trying to keep you from speaking up when that was not the case at all. Done with this.

 

No, you said "It's an argument between whites that should be listening instead of talking." And "that is why there aren't many POC in this thread trying to discuss the issues." That's very directly, not even insinuating, but downright accusing white ppl talking in this thread as the reason for absence of POC here. And I really do ressent that. I'd love to hear anyone's story (except when they're telling the world it's really my fault, as a white person, POC are not participating here).

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