Artemis
The strangest fucking thing about right wingers and Charlie Kirk is that somehow they think we are still in the "polite discussion" phase of this "culture war" they kicked off/invented.
It tells you how goddamn fucking comfortable they are and how few marginalized people are in their lives.
Artemis
I mean seriously...if you didn't have tears for George Floyd, then I don't see why I should have tears for Charlie Kirk.
Artemis
It's really scary to look at someone who died a sudden, violent death & think "it could be me," but that's what Black Lives Matter was about, right? It arose out of people saying "that could be me."
And these right wingers didn't care about that ...they don't care that some people live under constant threat as long as they personally feel safe.
No fucking wonder this excites them so much. No wonder they find our lack of sympathy ghoulish. Violence isn't supposed to happen *to them*.
Artemis
And it's mind-blowing to me, the idea of a person walking around this country, NOT feeling unsafe. It's hard for me to even enter that mindset.
But a lot of people on the fash side of things have not been scared this whole time. They make a lot of noise about gang violence & this & that, but they haven't actually pictured themselves as potential victims of violence.
Artemis
I had a Facebook discussion with a former friend about Kirk and it was frustrating but also—as I think about it now—enlightening.
I really do think she's legitimately shocked & horrified by Kirk's death. It's terrifying, & it makes her feel unsafe ... because up until this point, she DID feel safe, actually.
Artemis
Although to be clear, I DO NOT appreciate that the Feds & news media are talking about the guy they currently have in custody as though he has already been convicted... He gets his day in court first, right? RIGHT?
Artemis
It's the reality that violence begets violence that has apparently got them shook.
"Oh, I didn't think MY violence would ever come back on ME!"
Charlie Kirk was most likely shot by a right wing troll... It was EXACTLY his violence coming back to him. It wasn't a queer person or a Black person... It was most likely a straight white kid who has been listening to guys like Kirk his whole life.
Artemis
I just want to say to them "you didn't already know this 'game' was life or death? We did. And a lot of people have died. Are you fucking NEW here?"
Artemis
This, I think, is at the heart of a lot of what I see right now from people who think of themselves as "free speech" champions: they didn't actually believe that real world violence underlies the things they say & do, because it's only violence when it happens to *them*.
They've been playing with no stakes while imagining they are courageous heroes, & now someone has introduced stakes. They didn't ever think that THEY would have actual skin in the game.
Artemis
They think it's a game. They think we're trying to score points.
Charlie Kirk is apparently the first time it's becoming real to people that this isn't just a game...that they could get hurt.
They're shocked and aghast. "How can you be so callous?"
We've already lost so many to their violence, & they are scared *for the first time* & don't understand why we shrug & say "oh, this is just how the world IS now. You didn't know?"
Artemis
I mean...
The right wing got their President & their Supreme Court & their Legislature. They are out there doing whatever they please.
But it's only words. "Why are you people so upset? It's just debate!"
No, it fucking isn't...not when the debate is accompanied by State violence it certainly isn't!
Artemis
Looks like Kirk got shot by a groyper honestly, so it's really a matter of infighting amongst themselves.
But when they get around to memorializing Kirk, they want to remind you, it was "only" words, only debate.
No, it wasn't. He hurt people.
He. Hurt. People.
Artemis
That is to say Charlie Kirk only *said* things apparently. And apparently saying things can't lead to very real violence that people experience.
He was *only* talking. He *only* made a Watchlist of professors to inform people about who had liberal viewpoints, and if those people got horribly harassed & threatened, that's not on him.
They are "only" words.
PedestrianError :vbus: :nblvt:
@artemis When Trayvon Martin, a child, was murdered in a much more personal way by an adult for walking home from a convenience store with a bag of skittles, these same people were quick to announce that it was all perfectly justified because he was wearing a hoodie and may have once been caught smoking marijuana. Their kids smoke pot and wear hoodies AND spew hate but they must be protected - not just from murder but even from rude comments - while doing all those things.
Miakoda
@artemis I feel oblivious having to ask... TF is a groyper?
Miakoda
@artemis Ew
Artemis
@hellomiakoda
You're not oblivious, it's just one of those ridiculous names for a white supremacist hate group which none of us should have to know, in this case: Nick Fuentes' followers.
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