🔵
So Gab federating exposes racists to non-racists, making it easier for existing Fediverse users to confront racism...why was it such a bad idea again?
💀
@realcaseyrollins
I guess the thinking goes somehow like this:
"People are not supposed to talk with racists. Interacting with racists means treating them like human beings and we must treat them like inhuman monsters. We need to lock them up in the deepest depths of hell and pretend they don't exist."
@alyx Hmm. Well they actually are human beings. That means that their minds can be changed.
How will their minds be changed? Surely not by talking exclusively with other racists.
@realcaseyrollins
I don't think that the people who advocate to segregate the wrong thinkers actually want to change their minds and make them not racist.
I get the feeling that they want to have an eternal boogie man with which to scare people into submission. Like how certain Christian sects use the threat of Satan and hell to traumatise people into following the religion.
@realcaseyrollins
Because what they really want is power. At some point they've noticed that screaming "racist" loud enough granted them power to exclude people, to shut down events, to close platforms etc.
And because they love the power, they can't have it that racism doesn't exist anymore.
Also, changing a racist's mind doesn't give them the same rush of power like having control over a racist's life does.
In time this thirst for power will transform in a desire for an authoritarian rule. Which is where fear and hate mongering usually comes in. Basically, imagine a Hitler that instead of inciting hate towards Jews, he used "racists" instead to gain support.
@alyx
Those "Christian sects" also oftentimes use apologetics to prove the veracity of the Bible but that might be a conversation for later in the thread.
I suppose the question then is why do people who want to silence racists want them to keep being racist?