• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

"Everyone is equal, so shut up"

BeI

BeI

Member
Dec 9, 2017
5,974
What is this? I've seen in-laws express a view that is essentially this statement to dismiss stuff like pride events or even black history month. They've said it shouldn't be a thing because everyone is equal (with a dismissal tone), or maybe there should be a white history month or a straight pride event; that type of thing.
 
Harry Potter Obama

Harry Potter Obama

Member
Feb 13, 2018
3,842
Japan
Well, it's true if you ignore societal structures, power dynamics, and literally everything else. Some people I don't see or don't want to see how context changes what that "equality" is.
 
andymoogle

andymoogle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,306
I've heard it. As if bigotry and inequality disappears just because there are pride parades, and women and POC get bigger movie roles than before.
 
moonie

moonie

Member
Oct 25, 2019
237
The education system in the US is so broke, in recent years some conservative states have purposefully cut funding for public education. Because less educated people are easier to manipulate and be lief to I suppose.

It's possible your in-laws didn't receive a great education in the early formative years as children, and subsequently aren't very open-minded.
 
EdibleKnife

EdibleKnife

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,723
Next time they say it you should ask what "equal" actually means to them. People who say this shit don't have any interest in what oppression actually is and why/how it persists and mostly rely on "well the constitution/the law says we're equal so we must be!" As though just because something is written down means it's followed to the letter by every citizen and never circumvented or reversed.
 
Last edited:
Dave

Dave

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,338
The problem is, everybody wasn't equal but that seemingly doesn't matter now that equality is closer to acceptable now that what it was.

We call those people racist.
 
Username1198

Username1198

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
8,116
Space, Man
Not everyone is treated equally. That much is very apparent.

Ask them to look at laws from the past and present that discriminate against certain groups like lgbtq. Ask em what specific laws discriminate against white people. Then look at their faces as they try to think of an answer.
 
Last edited:
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,609
here
all humans are equal

but some humans are more equal than others

- human farm
 
SigSig

SigSig

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,777
OP, be careful! You might be dealing with radical centrists! They might look chill at first glance, but are actually collaborators with the fascists. They are incredibly numerous among boomers and might be more dangerous than the actual far right, as they believe in nothing at all!
 
Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,126
UK
BeImonkey said:
What is this? I've seen in-laws express a view that is essentially this statement to dismiss stuff like pride events or even black history month. They've said it shouldn't be a thing because everyone is equal (with a dismissal tone), or maybe there should be a white history month or a straight pride event; that type of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You should have gone "OK boomer" at them ;)
 
Roytheone

Roytheone

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,140
Everyone is equal but until everyone is actually threated equally those events are important.
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,166
What they are is factually wrong, and too weak, prideful, privileged and spineless to acknowledge that they're wrong.
 
Vulcano's Assistant

Vulcano's Assistant

Member
Oct 29, 2017
13,479
"Why are you making so much noise building that ladder? I, who live outside of the hole, am not hammering all day. Why must you?"
 
ps3ud0

ps3ud0

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,906
People who have that view are very much either racists, homophobic and transphobic or most likely all of them.

Have no empathy whatsoever...

ps3ud0 8)
 
Kaguya

Kaguya

Member
Jun 19, 2018
6,404
Everyone should be equal, they're not treated as such though, and this argument is only ever thrown at groups that are fucked on equality spectrum to shut them up.
 
J_ToSaveTheDay

J_ToSaveTheDay

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
18,789
USA
Yep, the "All Lives Matter" approach to suppression.

"We can't possibly be against you because we're not against anyone," but whenever the chips are down there's always someone to hate on and blame for their problems.
 
LukeOP

LukeOP

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,749
What's even more stupid is no one is stopping these people from having a white history month or a straight pride month.
 
Bronx-Man

Bronx-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,351
"Equality" to most people like that is really "Well we stopped lynching you guys, can you shut the fuck up now?"
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
49,986
It's essentially "we fixed the problem so stop talking about it". Which might be okay - probably not - if the issue was actually resolved. Generally it's just a way to silence others by telling them their issues don't exist.
 
Richiek

Richiek

Member
Nov 2, 2017
12,063
A lot of racists believe that Martin Luther King solved the problem of racism, and the black folks should shut the fuck up and be grateful.
 
Sunster

Sunster

The Fallen
Oct 5, 2018
10,011
they are afraid consciously or subconciously that more equality will disrupt the status quo and threaten their position on the social hierarchy that is central to a conservative's worldview.
 
EdibleKnife

EdibleKnife

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,723
Richiek said:
A lot of racists believe that Martin Luther King solved the problem of racism, and the black folks should shut the fuck up and be grateful.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yep. And somehow they don't see the irony in believing that MLK "solved" racism when he ended up killed by a white supremacist murderer, a motif of US society that has repeated ad nauseum since. We wouldn't have Dylann Roof or the brutality at Charlottesville or the KKK at all if one black man's death was the solution to generations of violent oppression.
 
theme park joe

theme park joe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,201
PIT
moonie said:
The education system in the US is so broke, in recent years some conservative states have purposefully cut funding for public education. Because less educated people are easier to manipulate and be lief to I suppose.

It's possible your in-laws didn't receive a great education in the early formative years as children, and subsequently aren't very open-minded.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Wait hold on, are you saying funding for public education is cut and insinuate the OPs relatives are under educated? What the hell?
 
Voytek

Voytek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,805
A lot of people live in a fantasy world. They see the world only how they want to see it and social media helps them do it.
 
Doctor_Thomas

Doctor_Thomas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,649
A lot of people think "equality" is just saying everyone is equal and no one is a slave so it's all good.

What they always ignore is that equality is not something that can be just "said", it's through actions.

You can have all the freedoms, give people the same rights in theory, but unless there's buy in to freedom from everyone (specifically the people who feel that other people being given the same rights is their rights being eroded (a strange concept)) then equality is just a word that sounds nice.


"Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all"
 
thetrin

thetrin

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,631
Atlanta, GA
Some people are actually incapable of understanding context. Its fucking wild. It betrays a lack of critical thinking skills.
 
Amnixia

Amnixia

â–˛ Legend â–˛
The Fallen
Jan 25, 2018
10,411
BeImonkey said:
What is this? I've seen in-laws express a view that is essentially this statement to dismiss stuff like pride events or even black history month. They've said it shouldn't be a thing because everyone is equal (with a dismissal tone), or maybe there should be a white history month or a straight pride event; that type of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Spoiler: because they are racist. They damn well know why things like gay pride events and black history month are a thing.

And next time they start about it, some quick reactions:

"white history month": western schools and media always focus on white history and rarely portray the suffering of African Americans in an accurate way.

"straight pride events": well, straight people don't get murdered simply for existing.
 
Orayn

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,941
It's a conservative security blanket. The world feels like a much more hopeful and manageable place if you don't have to make room in your mind for our society being fundamentally, monstrously wrong and unjust.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
Oct 28, 2017
908
UK
Everyone is equal. We're all human beings.

I don't care if you're physically disabled, mentally disabled, black, white, fat, slim, rich or poor etc ... everyone is equal.

If everyone had this view, there'd be no need for targeted events which in turn alienate others, those others have often done nothing to be discriminated against but yet historically maybe their ancestors have, maybe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.