Dear white men. Facts don’t care about YOUR feelings either.
FACT: straight, white, Christian, cisgendered males are at the top of the socioeconomic “food chain” in the world, and particularly this great country of ours.
FACT: there have been institutionalized laws built into the fabric of American society which, although may have been changed, still have sociological and even psychological repercussions today (e.g. the implementation of redline districting in the 1930s, women not being allowed to vote, women not being allowed to get credit cards as late as 1974, Jim Crow segregation, and slavery, just to name a few.)
FACT: your experiences and existence in this world as straight, white, cisgendered men are quite different than the existence and experiences of those of us who are not white, not straight, not male, not cisgendered, or not even Christian.
FACT: people in this country who are not white, not straight, not male, not cisgendered, or not Christian, have endured varying amounts and levels of subjugation over the history of this country (dating back to colonial times) that to this day literally permeate the fabric of our communities’ DNA. Everything from the institutionalized -isms I alluded to above, to the treatment of women in the workplace world, to something as “simple” as the depiction of people of color (particularly African-, Asian-, and Native Americans) in media.
FACT: when people who are not white, not straight, not male, not cisgendered, or not Christian point out these aforementioned facts, it is not “reverse” racism, “reverse” sexism, any kind of prejudice, or even hatred. It is not even demonizing. It is simply stating facts.
Finally, and most importantly…
FACT: some male wypipo are all too quick to tell you that facts don’t care about your feelings—that is until you tell them FACTS about white male privilege. Then watch them lose their collective ish!
A fact they conveniently ignore
The political right has adopted this term as some sort of rallying cry to summarily dismiss and/or ignore the real hurts of people in disenfranchised communities of this country. The truth is, regardless of the veracity of anything people in marginalized communities fight for, it ALL comes out of a place of hurt and wanting to be heard, respected, and treated like any human being would want to be treated.
As my “friend” Sam Jackson might say, “Haven’t you heard of empathy mutha fucka!”
And I’ve heard Ben Shapiro (who I believe is credited with popularizing this phrase) claim that empathy shouldn’t direct policy. I may be willing to concede that. But it CAN direct the way you interact in the creation of those policies!
You all would get a completely different response if you came at us like Counselor Troi or Guinan as opposed to the mother f*ckin’ Borg! (#BlerdShade)
Tweet that!
The issue most of us have is NOT that you have a difference of opinion, it’s that so many of y’all are straight up assholes about it.
There may be times when people I love or care about have reactions or responses to things I say or do that elicit emotional, I may even think, irrational, responses—responses that facts (or my perceived “facts”) may seem to empirically disqualify.
But because I care about or love those people, I try to move to a position of empathy to rebuild, repair, or even strengthen the relationship.
Showing empathy is not mutually exclusive to adhering to your beliefs. It’s called being a f-ing decent human being.
Because here’s the thing you seem to either forget, or conveniently don’t understand:
Facts may not care about feelings…but PEOPLE do!
Every time you use that term as an “argument” or ad hominem response to an issue borne out of the aforementioned list of facts, you continue to show the world why so many of you have a reputation of being cold, insensitive, judgmental assholes who ironically don’t display one of the core tenets of the faith of which so many of you claim to be a part.
So keep on saying “facts don’t care about your feelings” and see where that gets you and this country. Do it long enough, and I guarantee you won’t like the end result.
And that is one muther frakkin’ FACT you can take to the bank and tell ’em Baretta sent you!
About “Ronald”
Ron Dawson (aka “Ronald”) is a satirical writer, filmmaker, self-admitted blerd, managing editor of a major filmmaking blog, and author of the pending satirical memoir “Dungeons ‘n’ Durags: One black nerd’s epic quest of self-discovery, racial identity, and woking up in Trump’s America.” Sign up for the email list to get access to a sample chapter and be notified of the book’s release.
(header image photo credit: Foto Sushi on Unsplash)
Also published on Medium.