May 25, 2017
A03
Ramos's article "Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice" critiques the public's tendency to generalize the struggles of certain ethnic minorities in order to promote inclusivity, yet doing so takes away the intentions of working together to dismantle systemic racism. We have seen this in recent years across social media, casual conversations, and fast-spreading news, and perhaps we have unknowingly played our part in normalizing this groupthink. In response to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which stemmed from the publicized and racially justified shootings of unarmed African American people by police, people have spread messages like #AllLivesMatter to remember everyone who has been a victim of injustice, including the majority groups who already benefit from the privileges of not going through inequity. Although appropriating the original widespread hashtag was meant to acknowledge other communities' experiences with oppression, it only distracts attention from the remaining issue regarding internalized racism. Therefore, using the ethnicity to describe an experience – or years of deeply rooted experiences – should not be perceived to mean talking about that one group only, but keeping their experiences in mind when we are fighting for the justice in our respective groups. With that mindset, we create and maintain a culture of respect of cultural differences instead of engaging in what Ramos calls isolated acts of solidarity.
Q: Where do you think the connotation of a SJW went from positive to negative?
Sister, G. (2014, Dec 19). Asian American Solidarity Statements and Articles in Support of #BlackLivesMatter. Retrieved
from https://genkispeak.wordpress.com
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