Thread by @HoarseWisperer

@arlenparsa Respectfully, this is less enlightened than you likely believed.

1) Claiming these kids’ lives would be “ruined”.

Trayvon Martin’s life was ruined. George Zimmerman’s was not. Inconvenience isn’t ruin. Consequences aren’t ruin.

@arlenparsa 2) Suggesting that a community which fully created, fostered and maintained a culture of bigotry and intolerance just needs to do a little thinking is naive at best.

Predatory cultures don’t meet up for community coffee and soul-search about things they believe aren’t wrong.

@arlenparsa You are projecting your moral foundation onto others who don’t share it.

Again, I say this respectfully, but that projected identification and forgiveness has done more to perpetuate systemic racism than angry protests AGAINST racism have ever done.

@arlenparsa 3) The idea that systemic racism in a hyper-patriarchic white supremacist ecosystem would be improved or fixed by just adding a few teachers of color is not close to logical.

Sharks are predators. They don’t become dolphins by merely adding some dolphins.

@arlenparsa And lastly 4) The default to empathizing with, and worrying about, the offender over the victims is a reaction only afforded to white offenders.

“...but this will be so bad for their college dreams.” is an answer that fixes zero Brock Turners and instead creates 100 more.

@arlenparsa Should we, as adults, engage with the adults in that community rather than the kids? Sure.

Should we feel sorry for the ways in which privilege and racism has turned into consequences and public scorn?

Not one damn bit. Maybe the next kid will think twice. That’s success.