A clear demonstration of the "few rotten apples" principle if I ever saw one. It's an easy phrase to use to excuse the behavior of a small number, but it often neglects the larger point of the second part of the phrase, which is that it then becomes impossible for an outside viewer to determine which is rotten and which isn't, and simply dispose of the whole lot.My thing is this: I like cops, and I generally get along well with them, but the problem isn't that most are good, and some are bad, it's that the good ones provide cover and excuses for the bad ones and that can taint the entire endeavor by association.
YouTube footage appears to show a white-shirted NYPD officer firing the spray into the eyes of the protesters, who are penned in by other officers with orange netting. As the officer walks away, two of the women crumple to the ground, screaming in pain. ... In a vivid account of the incident in the Boston Review, Mansfield said: ... "In the street I shout for water to rinse my eyes or give to the girls on the ground. But no one responds. One of the blue-shirts, tall and bald, stares in disbelief and says, 'I can't believe he just fuckin' maced her.'" [Emphasis added.]I certainly hope this won't be the full extent of how the cops on the scene respond to this behavior.
The main point of it is, well... I guess... I dunno maybe it' my privilege showing. And maybe this was setup BEFORE the protests were setup, so if so, then I can't argue with that.posted by symbioid at 10:57 AM on September 28, 2011
But, apparently this Saturday there's a slutwalk. Now, I support SlutWalks, and I think they should happen. I'm pretty sure a few of the folks on my list have attended some. So, I do think it's an important thing, and I'm not going to be some white privileged dude telling women to not walk where they wish and when they wish.
I guess it's my immediate reaction to "here we Liberals go again - diluting the message".
In the past, it's not an "anti-war" protest, it's a free-mumia protest, it's a Pro-Palestine protest, it's a slutwalk, it's an anticapitalist protest, its...
And yeah, i get it... Intersectionality. I get it. These movements need to understand that they're united against cultural/financial/political imperialism, they show solidarity with each other. But at the end of the day, the message is "what was the message???"
So I can see *why* it is the way it is. But I think it dilutes the message.
When you have a march on Wall Street - the MSM is already asking "what's the message?" Umm, wtf do you think it is, you corporate fuckers? But the message is hard enough to get out and then to add a secondary message on top (which while not necessarily part of the original protest or even, AFAIK, "standing in solidarity") it seems to me that by having the slutwalk at the same place as the Occupy Wall Street protests it's kind of mixing messages.
I understand we could make a big philosophical cogent argument against the patriarchy and capitalist system, and all sorts of grand statements.
I just wonder if it's the right place.
And then I wonder - is this my privilege talking?
So i just say it here. Pondering. But not telling anyone what to do, that is their choice and their right to make that choice. I just question (as is my right) whether it's the best way to proceed.
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posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:13 AM on September 27, 2011