Someone I work with posted a meme thing yesterday with a picture of a confederate flag above (black) young men wearing saggy pants, which said something like "You say this flag offends you (on the flag), well this offends me (on the saggy pants).

I was feeling bad for not calling her out on it, but apparently someone we work with spoke with her about it-- she posted that she took it down and that it is someone she has liked and respected for years-- I thought an apology was coming, but the end of that post and her next posts are her saying that she is not racist, she doesn't think she is superior, she has friends of all colors, etc, etc. She apparently has no respect for this person who spoke to her quietly about this anymore, thinks they are rude and offensive. I really want to post something, because everyone who is posting is being supportive of her (granted, not a lot of people from work) and I want to give her a white privileged 101. It is just so hard to flip the switch in people's heads that just because they were poor or had hard times, or don't actively call people names, they can still be acting in a racist manner, and in fact racism (and sexism) is all around us just permeating everything. But once you see that, it can't been unseen.

I'm not commenting on any FB posts about the confederate flag, because my only instinct is to be sarcastic, and I realize that doesn't help anything (except my own satisfaction at snarking at people who I disagree with).

(That is also why I avoid commenting on posts from Tim's nephews that say things like "Why is there no Straight Pride parade?" or "Why is there no White Pride group?" [and yeah, I had to work REALLY hard to NOT reply to the last one with "There is; it's called the KKK. Do you know your family can read these posts???")

Jillifonts and I live happily together in my house unless they are poisonous or big enough to have visible mandibles, in which case they are safely escorted to a comfortable relocation option. Jillifonts are a large part of my War Against Fruitflies which is an ongoing saga.

As long as the Jillifonts aren't wandering out where I can see them, I've accepted they're in the house. They're helpful, I know that! But when they stroll around the house (or Vlad brings them upstairs), NO. Pete does the catch & release thing. And if he's not home, I beat them to death with a shoe, usually while screaming.

I know FB can be an echo chamber but I'm so glad mine is, sometimes...

I'm not commenting on any FB posts about the confederate flag, because my only instinct is to be sarcastic, and I realize that doesn't help anything (except my own satisfaction at snarking at people who I disagree with).

I'm not on FB enough to get into any discussions about it, but I'll admit that when someone w/ a confederate flag posted a gothy link to my timeline, I cringed.

Many people will not change their opinions about the battle flag and will become more obnoxious about flaunting it. But at least they may have taken a kick in the complacency. I think that them knowing they're not as surrounded by acceptance as they may have thought they were is a good first step.

I often avoid actively engaging on things like FB when I think it will be futile and not be heard the right way. For me the most recent I-hate-that-I'm-ignoring-this-but-I'm-ignoring-it moment was with a younger cousin on DH's side who is Mormon, who posted some crap about how the real bigot isn't the person who is opposed to SSM but the person who thinks being against SSM is intolerant and bigoted. I let it go for a bunch of reasons, but mostly because she has a foster brother who is gay, who moved into their home a troubled teen who felt alienated from his religion, and if seeing him now happily in love isn't enough to convince her there's something wrong with her position, I don't see how my scolding her on FB would help.

I know FB can be an echo chamber but I'm so glad mine is, sometimes...

Yeah. I know it's problematic in a big picture way, but i like my bubble. I would be on Facebook even less than I am now otherwise.

ETA and a big part of my non-engagement on a whole host of topics is pretty much what Burrell said. I know my knee-jerk responses would not help anything, and I don't have the wherewithal to really dig in. It's just too much.

I spent like an hour last night telling my sister not to buy the extended warranty, and she's back at me today about it. I said "don't buy it" 27 ways to Sunday. She also writes the world's rudest e-mails. She usually puts the entire e-mail in the subject line along with things like "RESPOND NOW!" Why has she never noticed that other people don't write e-mails like that? Why?

The discussion of Confederate symbols has once again highlighted the world's ugliest statue: [link] That thing is right next to the interstate, and I swear there has to have been accidents because of it. At least it's the statue Nathan Bedford Forrest deserves.

Why has she never noticed that other people don't write e-mails like that? Why?

For the same reason that my aunt who writes emails IN ASSCAPS EVERY SINGLE TIME doesn't seem to notice that the people who reply to her use regular cap/lowercase because it's goddamn readable.