autistic-answers:

itswalky:

agoodcartoon:

the number of americans who still think trump deserves a chance is vanishingly small, agc.

the villains in this cartoon are requesting “no nazis”

My thoughts on this cartoon:

[Cartoon showing a small amount of white people standing on a hill, holding a sign that says “Welcome peaceful transition.” The hill is surrounded by shouting protesters, portrayed as loud, rude, and overdramatic, holding signs such as “Resist,” “No Nazis,” and “Not my prez!”]

This picture really got me thinking, but not in the way the artist intended. You see, the cartoon is a great example of a dynamic between the oppressed and the oppressors that I’ve noticed.

Here’s how it works:

The status quo in some way, causes serious harm to a group of oppressed people (often threatening their safety or well-being).

These people and their allies organize, and start protesting the harm that is actively being done to them.

The people causing the harm, and “neutral” people, complain that there is no peace anymore.

The oppressed people and their allies are expected to just shut up and accept their lot in life.

Here are some real-life examples:

• The Black Lives Matter movement often includes mentions of the phrase “No justice, no peace!” People often characterize their protests as riotous and dangerous, as they call for an end to the violence of the police.
• After growing public outcry, the fearmongering organization Autism Speaks posted a letter called “A Call for Unity” (essentially blaming autistic people for being “divisive” by protesting their harmful tactics). Nick Walker commented “What the vulture calls unity, the giraffe calls getting eaten.”

In both cases, the oppressed groups are worried for their futures and safety. People of color are afraid of themselves and their loved ones getting killed by trigger-happy police. Autistic people are afraid of discrimination due to the way autism is demonized, and of getting abused or killed by the people who are supposed to be there for us.

And in both cases, protests are met with a “be quiet; stop making trouble.”

Sometimes it feels like a continuation of this childhood dynamic:

A bully makes a habit of insulting, hitting, and threatening a certain child.

The child, frightened and upset, tells an adult.

The adult brings them both together. The bully cries and says they just want to be friends with the child.

The child is cautious, not wanting to spend time with someone who treats them this way.

The adult, wanting an end to conflict, tells the child to “just get along” with the bully. The child learns that nobody cares if they are hurt, because people want superficial peace more than they want to protect the child from harm.

The bully continues bullying the child.

It’s not a perfect analogy, because now we are all adults (or teens). But the pattern of blaming the victim for drawing attention to the abuse continues.

Passivity won’t stop police from shooting nonthreatening people. Walking away from Autism Speaks won’t make them stop saying awful things about autistics. Ignoring Trump and white supremacists won’t make them go away.

Things you don’t pay attention to can still hurt you, and shutting up won’t make you safer.

So to people who want to help, stop complaining when people open their mouths. Allow yourself to be uncomfortable, and stop attacking the messenger. People are protesting out of real pain, real fear. Ignoring it might allow a privileged person to pretend it’s not there, but the rest of us are still not safe.

The “peace” people want to return to is an illusion. The unprivileged people never had that peace, because they still don’t have safety. They’re not asking for conflict; they’re saying “stop hurting us.” The conflict was already there; you just didn’t notice it.

Do we want a world in which bullying victims are silent, or a world in which there is no bullying?

Listen when people express pain. Empathize with the fear and grief of an unsafe world. And consider raising your voice in solidarity.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Desmond Tutu:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.“

Stop yelling at the mouse for voicing pain, and try asking the elephant to move.

The “we want a peaceful transition” people in the cartoon are not only all white, they’re on a hill. It’s possible the artist just composed it that way to make them more visible; it’s possible they did it to imply they “have the moral high ground;” but you could also read them as being in a safer position than the protestors.