John D wrote: ↑
Crazy day... My daughter messaged me and wanted my comment about Trump's tweet regarding "looters and shooters" and did I think he was racist. I said I didn't think he is particularly racist and that he is an ass and a blow hard. She told me that my comment has finally convinced her that I am a racist and she can't be my friend. I told her that "If I was Christian I would pray for you.... Something is wrong with you." So yeah. My kid is full SJW. Fuck her. Why did I raise her anyway??????
While sweeping the apartment, I listened to Sargon's riot-reaction livestream, and thought of you & daughter.
Sargon talked about the popular notion that the US is unequivocally bad-- the evil empire of capitalism, dropping bombs for oil, ignorant armed christian redneck rapists, a racist state built on slavery-- which never-really ended.
Your daughter believes in that worldview. Her evil-empire is even-bigger, including 'patriarchy' and 'gender' as vast rightwing conspiracies.
Her question about Trump's looting-leads-to-shooting tweet-- was a litmus test. For her, the verdict about the US is already 100% settled. 100% guilty.
She's testing you-- sorting you-- into 'Which side are you on?' / 'You're either with us or against us.'
Her test is defective. But she can't comprehend that-- because it would require comprehending that her simplistic USA-bad gender-patriarchy-bad worldview is defective.
And... even-if you 'passed' her test. Let's say you were familiar with the racist 1960's police chief who said 'when the looting starts the shooting starts'... and you considered the phrase to be irredeemably racist due to that origin...
...she'd only -provisionally- sort you onto the side with the angels. Until the next test. <-- I say that with confidence because I find myself in that position right now.
By some accident-- right-before this inflammatory moment-- I stopped playing devil's advocate for Trump. Stopped trying to talk my Trump-Deranged acquaintances off the ledge of preposterous positions-- guiding them to more-tenable critiques. I started saying I was sick of defending Trump from his own bullshit/ and I felt the trollish joke of Trump had grown old-- and 4 more years would be a crappy sequel. (The only 'better' aspect of Biden or Bernie would be the novelty factor. new lolcow.)
So-- what's the result of me distancing myself from Trump/ right-before the current shitshow? I guess it avoided some hairy confrontations with people in a mood to shout in my face. But their disposition toward me right-now is unease. I'm an uncomfortable unknown-quantity in limbo. I'm neither devil nor angel. They'd be more comfortable with the easy-answer of those pigeonholes.
I'd take your daughter at her word: she can't -conceive- of a legit difference of opinion on 'looting=shooting' or whether that's racist. Trying to enlighten her won't work. Your only choice is to accept her framing & decide whether to place yourself inside or outside her stupid black&white border wall.