Slight of Hand

I'm surprised but I shouldn't be surprised, Shrodinger's surprise. Jenna Marbles has stopped making comedy because she doesn't want to offend anybody. How can you not offend anybody? You can't because offense is subjective. The Mighty Boosh is racist because of the Spirit of Jazz, The League of Gentleman is also racist - not to mention both are transphobic. It's all too easy to look at things now and see them as problematic. The past can't fight back, is this why we're going after it rather than dealing with problems we can actually do something about? At the beginning of the Coronavirus saga I said I didn't want to live in an overly sanitized world and this is what I was actually getting at.

I was speaking with a friend about this. My position is that voice actors are hired for their skill and how they sound. It isn't to do with their skin colour. The beauty of animation is you can be whoever or whatever you want to be. They said a trans person should play a trans person, I agree, as a POC should play a POC if it's live-action. I'm still baffled why the leading actress in Memoirs of a Geisha was Chinese and not Japanese. It just seems casting only black people for a black person role in animation is very limiting, and it restricts diversity. I want everyone to have equal opportunities regardless of race, background, sexuality, or gender.

If the problem lies with casting, we need to tackle that issue. If it's racial stereotypes, let's face that issue. Having someone the same as the animated character they're voicing poses a lot more problems than it solves. Now the argument should be that the casting need to do more to get POC and other groups to apply for these positions absolutely. But you can't give someone a role based on the colour of their skin.

Two other things which I've seen this week is that the Christopher Columbus' statue was removed, great work guys, the KKK also never wanted that statue erected in the first place - you've basically finished what they started. Protesters are calling for the Lincoln Emancipation statue in Boston to be removed. This is the statue that was paid for by people who were formerly enslaved to celebrate their emancipation, and if you actually looked up the definition of emancipation and the history of the statue...  but no, Shaun King posted a rather cleverly angled photo saying the statue shows a slave was being petted like a dog, but if you look up the statue you can actually see that's far from what it portrays. People are all too willing to believe things that they don't actually look into, or think for themselves. It's as if we live in a world where you can't instantly access this information.

This is the image Shaun King posted, accompanied by the caption "Yeah. Even this statue of Lincoln needs to come down. Like he’s petting a damn dog. Every racist statue must come down."

Here is what the statue actually looks like.

By the way Homer Simpson is yellow and he's voiced by a white actor.

Swapping an Artefact for an Artefact of the Same Weight

Thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement.

I have always stood against hatred of any kind, this includes racism. I feel that fighting prejudice with prejudice (i.e. the terms "White Privilege" and "White Fragility") is not the way to deal with things. Repackaging prejudice and to continue to use it doesn't seem productive. I'm not a fan of this new way of sticking people into categories based on their skin colour. I much prefer to see people on the content of their character.

This is not me saying racism doesn't exist because it does. This isn't me saying police brutality doesn't exist because it does. This isn't me denying that in some circumstances people have made allowances based on skin colour.

I want everyone to have equal opportunities regardless of race, background, sexuality, or gender.

The movement itself is problematic. For instance we have seen a leap from police brutality, to bringing down statues, to removing TV shows and voice actors, to Shaun King calling for the removal of white Jesus, to now it would seem people running with the whole thing that the country side is racist, if you do Veganism in the wrong way you're a white supremacist, and the UK branch are putting some things out there that could be classed as anti-Semitic. In years gone by the BLM UK have said the climate crisis is racist, and the suffragettes also wanted White Power. I feel before I align myself with a movement I need to see what they're about, and from what I've seen I'm not onboard with it. I am however all for what they stand for in terms of abolishing racism, making sure we're educated in schools about our colonial pasts, and that there is more history regarding POC taught in the curriculum. It just seems their views have escalated along the way.

I have a massive respect for all of my friends who are standing up against racism and for every inch of inequality that there is. I am proud I know so many wonderful and caring people. I personally just can't get onboard with a movement which doesn't sit right with me.

For this view I am seen as a racist. Now, I understand racism to mean the hatred of somebody based on their ethnicity. As far as I'm aware words still have meaning. So before branding someone a racist ask yourself "Is this person disagreeing with my point of view?" or "Is this person expressing a hatred toward somebody based on their ethnicity?" because there is a difference. It makes me wonder how if knowing me throughout the years and the person that I am is now not important whatsoever, but the view how I want everyone to be equal and respected for who they are (a view I have held for a very long time) is now such a controversial and evil thing, that expressing it earns me the label of a racist. It's as if the person I am is no longer important, but the view I hold because I disagree with a dubious movement is now what defines me. 

PSA

Take from this what you will. One of the things I’ve found most beneficial for my mental health is not looking at the news. Some people may say you need to know what's going on in the world, you don't. You can call this selfish, you can call it ignorance, but why continue to look at something that upsets you. Yes, the news has a place and a purpose, but it isn’t useful or helpful to consume it constantly. You can call me crazy, but I think it would be nice to live in a world where someone losing weight is not front page news.

What I've found helpful is only taking a quick glimpse at the news, sort of getting what you want and need from it. For me it’s seeing if things have sorted out, me looking at news is becoming less of a thing by the day and it honestly is making such a positive difference. As soon as I begin to feel angry, agitated, sad, depressed, or confused I immediately stop and look away. Maybe this is a defence mechanism, but it’s a very helpful one. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not detached from reality, no matter how appealing that may be - I still have a need to care and love. I just find the constant confusion and contradicting headlines to be too much. Why add confusion into the mix if you’re already feeling sad, anxious, and depressed?
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In regards to the recent events that being the murder of George Floyd. Everybody is now devoting their time to combating racism and the movement that is Black Lives Matter, whilst also damning every person who chimes in with "...but all lives matter." So many people are approaching this whole thing in such a wrong way, being dismissive and confrontational. Rather than saying they acknowledge the fact all people do matter, but the thing is we live in a world where black people are still being oppressed, persecuted, killed, and judged purely on the colour of their skin. Until we show that black lives matter, we are far from being able to state all lives matter and for it to actually mean anything. All lives do matter, of course they do, but at the moment in our current system it is shown that they don't.

It's lovely that so many people are now all of a sudden enthused with destroying racism, and the eradication of police brutality. It's great they can just muster up this energy, activism, and passion when it's in the news - didn't see it before, it was nowhere to be found. Well, it did make an appearance in 2015 when Michael Brown was killed by a police officer. Before dwindling away to wherever it goes only to resurface once it's back in the news. It was only last year that it was climate changes turn in the spotlight with Extinction Rebellion championing the cause, who used sticking themselves to things with super glue in order to be heard.

Another thing people like to do is when you point out that the riots and looting aren't the best way to go about doing things, they take umbridge with it. Because to me burning buildings, smashing things, and endangering countless lives is violence. Adding violence to violence amplifies violence, and that isn't productive. People will hark back to the Stonewall Riots, but here's the thing they didn't have the technology we had back then. In order to spread awareness, and draw attention perhaps riots were needed? Now we have the internet and the spread of information has never been easier. Because look how effective and useful the riots and looting were last time - spoiler alert, they weren't. Hence we have the same thing happening again, you need to adapt and change if you want to see any progress. Don't do the same things as before if they didn't work, it doesn't make any sense.

Also in terms of looting, people will argue the fact you're more outraged about objects and buildings than the murder of a man, as if you can't be angry about two things at once. They'll say "They're only things, they can be replaced." Okay, so the next time a house is robbed shall we tell the victims "They're only things, they can be replaced." What people aren't seeing is the fact that people have no doubt spent a lot of time, effort, money, blood, sweat, and tears to create their businesses in order for it all to be taken away from them.

I have never done groups or movements, I'm more concerned with my own limitations, and what I can do as a human being - the difference I can make and the impact I can have. These past few days I have glanced a bit more frequently at the news and found my mood has plummeted, so it's time to take a break from that.

Hashtag

I've been thinking about this today. I read a post this morning which I found interesting, that the black squares under the #BlackLivesMatter is erasing the space used for organisers to share resources. I'm always looking at these social media movements more closely because I remember Kony 2012 and how it struck me as off from the get go. I think in place of the black square should be some research that that person has done or learnt for themselves, after all we are doing this in order to resonate the message that Black Lives Matter. We need to stand together as one, because after all racism has no place in our society or anywhere. We should embrace, respect, and celebrate each another.

Looking on Instagram under the hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #blackouttuesday has now become a sea of blackness without context or meaning. Obviously it meant well, we are all upset and angry over the death of George Floyd and we want justice to be served. Police brutality and racism still exist, and it needs to end. The most effective way to combat and challenge racism is through education, racism is a learned behaviour and it can be unlearned. None of us are born racist, or hating and judging another human being. These behaviours are passed on, maybe it's through ignorance, perhaps it's the fact nobody has ever questioned that person's views.

We are all beautiful and unique in our own individual way. We are diverse and interesting and we should celebrate the things that make us, us.

As wonderful as it is that so many people are a part of this social media movement, and it's amazing how much awareness it has spread. I feel all of those black squares are a missed opportunity to showcase and really hammer home the point that racism should absolutely not be tolerated.