It has taken me several days to collect my thoughts enough to blog about the murders in Atlanta, and I'm still not sure they're entirely coherent. Of course I was horrified enough by the murders themselves, but what was up with the police representative who said the (young white male) suspect "had a very bad day, and this is what he did"? I can't even use profanity if I'm having a bad day! But it's somehow justification for him to kill a bunch of people?? And most of those people were Asian women. Was this misogyny or racism? Probably both. From the police spokesman's words, I would say we obviously live in a culture where if you are female or a person of color, your right to exist is secondary to some white man's frustrations. To those who say this wasn't specifically a hate crime against Asians, I would argue that this supposedly sex-addicted man passed many sex businesses between the places he shot up, so he indeed seemed to be targeting Asian-run businesses. To those who say it wasn't misogyny, I would say that it seems the only two men who got shot (one is still fighting for his life) were more an accident than a target - he was obviously aiming for women. Now I certainly don't hate and fear all white men, as I'm happily married to one and am friends with many others, but there do seem to be certain white men who view the rest of us nonwhite and/or nonmale people as objects to fulfill their desires rather than humans in our own rights. I see this when I'm driving, and it's always a white male who is a jerk because I happen to be in the lane he decides he wants to be in. I see this in the social media posts of someone I know who says women need to bring more to the table than men in a relationship, and then he's furious that he's alone with that attitude. I see it in the rather puzzling essays on conservative sites that purport to be written by women (although their profile photos always look like models), yet they are very down on the feminine gender and say we are all weak-willed and looking for a strong man to follow. They sympathize with all the conservative men out there who can't find a woman, but they always say that the problem is us gosh-darn strong-willed women who don't want to be bossed around. No thought that the man might need to soften his stance. And this attitude is not just annoying - it's deadly. When the rest of us refuse to indulge these men in their archaic worldview where they are above us and demand our submission rather than treating us as equals, then they feel justified in gunning us down. And the most discouraging part is that apparently some policemen think they are justified too! No wonder so many of us who are not white males hate the "thin blue line" flag!
Famous Hat
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