Have you ever felt bad about blocking someone?
Like, maybe you weren't in a good mood and did it out of frustration?
31-35, M
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hartfire Best Comment
I saw, a little earlier, that someone posted a brief string of messages between you and her on a difficult issue.
You blocked her - I suspect because you felt frustrated by her apparent inability to understand the issue.
I wrote a reply to her post (it never went up because by the time I'd written it, her post had been wiped from the site.)
Here is what I wrote:
"I haven't witnessed overt racism on the public pages yet,
but it's not always so obvious.
Micro racisms can be very subtle - such as avoiding responding to an interesting post because the avatar or name arouses a bias or fear.
Let's have a look at what Dan439 is saying. Taking your and his statements together, he's saying that any person is a racist if they haven't seen racism on SW.
Now you might think that statement only refers to what you see.
But for people who have spent their lives being the victims of racism in all its forms.
Or, for people who've studied it in sociology, psychology, social geography or history, it's a lot more complex than that.
People can express unconscious racisms by asking a question as simple as "where do you come from?" It
can imply that the person addressed is automatically assumed to come from somewhere else, hence to not belong here.
Between people of the same ethnic and cultural background, this question would never cause offence; the answer would be some inner or outer suburb or town of the same region.
But when someone looks, sounds or dresses differently, these differences can automatically arouse curiosity, assumptions or fears (for some others).
On average around the world, 15% of people are racist to some degree.
One finds less racism in areas where large numbers of very different peoples live and work together. These are highly cosmopolitan areas like California or London UK.
But even there, there is enough racism to result in occasionally tragic and horrific incidents.
On the basis of 15%, it would be safe to assume that racism is present here.
The rules strictly forbid it, and people who are flagged (reported) for racism are warned. Repeat offences will get them kicked off and blocked from the site.
This means that some who are racists will restrain their behaviours and not show those attitudes openly. It means the racist behaviours that do occur are often not likely to be obvious. They may occur via private messages and trolling.
It's a pity that Dan439 chose to block you from further conversation rather than engaging in a meaningful discussion.
However, someone who has experienced or witnessed a great deal of racism, can sometimes reach a point where they believe it's pointless trying to discuss things with someone they believe just doesn't and can't understand. I think that's unfortunate, but they do have the right to choose to say no to conversation."
Dan, I'd be interested to know whether you think I understood the situation correctly.
If you disagree, I'd be happy to hear and learn from anything you might have to say on the topic.
You blocked her - I suspect because you felt frustrated by her apparent inability to understand the issue.
I wrote a reply to her post (it never went up because by the time I'd written it, her post had been wiped from the site.)
Here is what I wrote:
"I haven't witnessed overt racism on the public pages yet,
but it's not always so obvious.
Micro racisms can be very subtle - such as avoiding responding to an interesting post because the avatar or name arouses a bias or fear.
Let's have a look at what Dan439 is saying. Taking your and his statements together, he's saying that any person is a racist if they haven't seen racism on SW.
Now you might think that statement only refers to what you see.
But for people who have spent their lives being the victims of racism in all its forms.
Or, for people who've studied it in sociology, psychology, social geography or history, it's a lot more complex than that.
People can express unconscious racisms by asking a question as simple as "where do you come from?" It
can imply that the person addressed is automatically assumed to come from somewhere else, hence to not belong here.
Between people of the same ethnic and cultural background, this question would never cause offence; the answer would be some inner or outer suburb or town of the same region.
But when someone looks, sounds or dresses differently, these differences can automatically arouse curiosity, assumptions or fears (for some others).
On average around the world, 15% of people are racist to some degree.
One finds less racism in areas where large numbers of very different peoples live and work together. These are highly cosmopolitan areas like California or London UK.
But even there, there is enough racism to result in occasionally tragic and horrific incidents.
On the basis of 15%, it would be safe to assume that racism is present here.
The rules strictly forbid it, and people who are flagged (reported) for racism are warned. Repeat offences will get them kicked off and blocked from the site.
This means that some who are racists will restrain their behaviours and not show those attitudes openly. It means the racist behaviours that do occur are often not likely to be obvious. They may occur via private messages and trolling.
It's a pity that Dan439 chose to block you from further conversation rather than engaging in a meaningful discussion.
However, someone who has experienced or witnessed a great deal of racism, can sometimes reach a point where they believe it's pointless trying to discuss things with someone they believe just doesn't and can't understand. I think that's unfortunate, but they do have the right to choose to say no to conversation."
Dan, I'd be interested to know whether you think I understood the situation correctly.
If you disagree, I'd be happy to hear and learn from anything you might have to say on the topic.
SubstantialKick · 31-35, M
@hartfire If she doesn't understand, that's fine. I just assumed that she was denying that it actually happens, and since I am already frustrated with life and also the negativity that I've seen on here as of late, I decided that I wanted nothing to do her and blocked her. Once I unblocked and saw her post I found out that the young lady is still a fairly new member and so she really hasn't seen much yet. It was an honest mistake.
@SubstantialKick Aah, that explains it.
Well, hopefully she'll see this post, understand and all will be forgiven.
You're right that there have been a lot of negative posts recently.
It tends to drag down the atmosphere a bit.
What kinds of things are you finding frustrating in your life at present?
It's fine to message me privately if you prefer.
I'm open to platonic conversations.
Well, hopefully she'll see this post, understand and all will be forgiven.
You're right that there have been a lot of negative posts recently.
It tends to drag down the atmosphere a bit.
What kinds of things are you finding frustrating in your life at present?
It's fine to message me privately if you prefer.
I'm open to platonic conversations.
SubstantialKick · 31-35, M
@SubstantialKick Ah, that's tough as hell. I'm in Australia by the way. I'm hearing all sorts of things on the news here, about how bad things are in the US. With things starting to open up again there, is there any chance that your old boss hasn't gone bust and might be able to rehire you? Or could your previous boss give you a good reference? How are the social services in your state?