And as a follow-up

[kaberett]

So as best I can tell, tim has just unfriended me everywhere on the entire Internet because -- I can only assume -- of the post I made yesterday, which disagrees pretty strenuously with his latest post about this twitter thread. I think it forms part of a disturbing pattern of behaviour on his part: I've tried (repeatedly!) expressing concern about his ableism in comments on his posts (as have others), and I've seen similar concerns expressed about his approaches to racism and other areas of oppression. He's point-blank refused to engage, as is of course his absolute right, but I am increasingly scared by how unwilling he seems to be to admit to mistakes or nuance, given ~his position in the feminist community~ and all that shit.

So here's the comment I left on that latest post, which is screened and which I imagine is likely to remain so, because actually I think the content is important.

(I hate that this is, in essence, a "call-out" post? But tim has been very clear that he thinks call-out culture is a good thing, and I have tried -- repeatedly -- to talk to him about this in his space. It has gone nowhere. So: now I'm talking about it in mine. Because I'm scared, and because I think engaging critically with his position statements actually matters, and he seems to be very keen to prevent that. Here we are.)

If you don’t want to get punched by an antifascist, it’s simple: don’t go to white supremacist rallies and don’t own white power symbols

This is fine, as far as it goes.

It’s perfectly reasonable to expect a violent response to the expression of hate speech because hate speech is itself violence

This is not. The sleight-of-word from clearly-defined "white supremacy" to vaguely defined "hate speech" is terrifying, especially in the absence of an actual clear definition, especially when endorsed by people who absolutely and categorically refuse (as is their right!) to engage with ever having it pointed out to them that they done fucked up. Personally, I'm much more in favour of the UK's attitudes to hate speech than the US' -- but you don't get to go from the one to the other while saying shit like "Apologies in advance [for getting punched "accidentally"]. Get an ice pack and reflect on what you just sacrificed for freedom."

[...] You’re either with the antifascists, or you’re with the fascists. Anybody who says otherwise is a liar, a coward, or a fascist - or possibly all three

This is negging, and it's very, very clearly an abusive tactic deliberately targetting expressions of (valid!) concern and dissent. It should not be okay, and it should not be acceptable. And in the context of your history of shit like this:

"By not responding, I'm not saying that your points aren't important or that your feelings about what I said aren't valid; I just don't wish to have this conversation with you at this particular moment."

... and others I've seen, where people call you in, compassionately, on your ableism and your racism and you utterly refuse to engage... yeah, I don't think anyone who's unwilling to admit to being wrong is someone whose absolute moral authority I'm willing to bow to unquestioningly. What the fuck.

I know you can understand what you're doing. I am scared of how determined you are to display your Moral Righteousness to the utter exclusion of ever engaging with (or even admitting!) your mistakes and fuck-ups.

Holding everybody else in the world to a higher standard than you do yourself is not a good look.

Comments

[kaberett]

... that you certainly did. <3