It's a good rant Sophia.

OK- I have to stop reading the little bios of the victims. It is so sad. Also, cell phones seem to make things better and make things sadder- the story of one of the victims Snap Chatting the shooting, or the young man texting his mom over the course of a fairly long period of time while hiding in a bathroom are just heartbreaking.

It feels like he's erasing the fact that it was a homophobic hate crime

My bigoted aunt thinks she's being a Patriot By God by proclaiming that this "senseless Muslim terrorist attack was an attack on ALL AMERICANS!" Except it wasn't. It's just that she realizes that if she doesn't decry the murder of 50 people and horrible injury of 53 more, she looks like a monster, and she is By God A Good Person, so she *has* to say something, but there is no way she can support the LGBTQ community (because of course God hates the way they live, and she cries when she "has to tell her gay friends that God hates they way they live"), so the only reasonable (Patriotic By God) recourse is to decide that this was an attack on ALL AMERICANS.

The fact that I haven't replied to her posts with "fuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuu" is amazing.

the young man texting his mom over the course of a fairly long period of time while hiding in a bathroom are just heartbreaking.

Reading this immediately brought me back to listening to Melissa Doi in the 9/11 attacks on the phone with the 911 operator and sending messages to her mother. Which I have never gotten over.

5. But I guess if you are a white, cis-gendered, straight man in America, and equality feels like losing, I guess it does feel like the government is out to get you.

I think that progressives are sometimes too dismissive of white men. Yes, white guys carry a lot of privilege, but low-income white guys don't feel like they do and that nobody cares. A lot of privilege comes from money/social class. If you hang out in progressive circles, you hear fairly often than the opinion of white guys doesn't count because they are privileged, and the term 'Diversity' can feel like 'everyone but you'.

It makes me thing of Buffy and Johnathon at the top of the tower. Everybody has their own pain. I don't think people should be excused for being racist or sexist or bigoted in other ways. I dunno, I also don't want to imply that progressives should tip-toe around white guys to spare their super-sensitive feelings either. I just wonder if there is a way to make 'Diversity' feel more like 'everybody including you'. Maybe there isn't a way to do that.

Shoot. I started off trying to make a point and I just ended up with muddled feelings.

This is not a pro-gun rant or smug anything: the problem with banning "assault rifles" is that there is no clear definition of what an assault rifle is. "Military style" gets countered with "The military still uses bolt-action rifles, are you gonna ban those? Huh???" and such. That's why the Assault Weapons Ban had to get very specific about technical specifications. It is stupid lawyering gamesmanship, and people getting smug about it are dumb.

Me, I can't think of a reason for any civilian to own an automatic weapon, period. I've seen people at the shooting range playing with their new automatic rifles and pistols, and I want to hide before they fire. The shooter is typically giggling and swaggering, and when he pulls the trigger he has trouble controlling the thing. When the magazine is empty, he puts it down and looks a little shakey, but then he starts giggling and swaggering more. I wish I could say I've seen said shooter have an epiphany of "That's a stupid thing to be shooting off, I should get rid of it," but no.

There should be limits on magazine size, too. If the guy who says he needs an automatic rifle for hunting can't turn Bambi into hamburger with ten rounds, he shouldn't be allowed to have a hunting license.

I probably should have added middle class, since I was talking about particular people.

I just wonder if there is a way to make 'Diversity' feel more like 'everybody including you'. Maybe there isn't a way to do that.

I think that is the at the heart of things-- I think diversity DOES mean "everyone including you", but it FEELS like you are losing something when you are used to seeing . I think the problem is calling it privilege, which makes poor white people turn off.

low-income white guys don't feel like they do and that nobody cares. A lot of privilege comes from money/social class.

For a long time, the "privileged class" was the family in the big house on the hill, who owned all the businesses and who sneered at the poor folks. When poor people are told they're privileged, they just don't see it. Privileges are things you earn or which are given to you--and which can be taken away. "In punishment for these infractions, you will lose privileges."

I think we should use the term "advantage." A low-income white man may understand better that his hand of cards is stronger than the one held by the low-income black woman. Unfortunately, we have to be aware that even with a better understanding of the theory, said angry white man may not care.

I think we should use the term "advantage."

That is a good term. I think the privilege term came from the original "unpacking the invisible knapsack" article writer, and she was actually using it with fairly privileged kids. In fact (probably because my college was so white), I was one of the least privileged when we did that.

I'm floored. From the Lt. Governor of Utah. Read it; it's worth it. [link]