Process
Status Items Highlights Done See section below Claims None Questions None Output None
Highlights
id968738425
The people who call for civility harbor the belief that we can contend with challenging ideas, and we can be open to changing our minds, and we can be well mannered even in the face of significant differences. For such an atmosphere to exist, we would have to forget everything that makes us who we are. We would have to believe, despite so much evidence to the contrary, that the world is a fair and just place. And we would have to have nothing at stake.
✏️ This feels reminiscent of other highlights i have regarding how laws are in place to protect the status quo. And if you exist on the outside of that status quo.. or if the norm is that your existence is a victim of that status quo… any effort you make towards changing that is going to require you to be comfortable with breaking some laws. #xref 🔗 View Highlight
id968738428
The performance is the only thing that matters.
id968738438
the notion of two groups— civil and not — is predicated on the idea that we’re all playing by the same rules, and we’re standing on equal footing, untroubled by the inequities and bigotries of the world.
id968738475
we often forget the sheer, unending violence of institutionalized racism by way of Jim Crow. White people of that era wielded power with impunity. They sprayed protesters with fire hoses and tear gas. They sicced dogs on them. They resorted to all manner of physical and stochastic violence. And sometimes, things escalated further.
✏️ This is what it looks like to “uphold the law” and uphold the status quo. This is what it looks like when people try to fight systematic injustice that’s baked into laws. 🔗 View Highlight
id968738856
Nonviolent, civil protest was met with rank incivility, which is to say that the hypocritical way in which we presently understand civility and incivility is nothing new.
id968738876
Calling for civility is about exerting power. It is a way of reminding the powerless that they exist at the will of those in power and should act accordingly. It is a demand for control.
✏️ This is the core of it. Being civil, following the rules.. you have to remember who’s dictating what civility and laws look like. 🔗 View Highlight