Thread by @absurdistwords

There's an interesting exploit that right wing white supremacists trolls use against white liberals.

The fact that most white liberals BELIEVE their statistical conclusions about Black people being criminals.

So they don't really have a valid rebuttal.

The flawed statistical arguments and the flogging of FBI data till it's gasping for air have ALWAYS worked on white liberals.

They just tend to feel really conflicted and guilty cause they're supposed to not believe the truth that's in front of them. It's not PC.

This is how the dapper Nazis got a foothold.

Because everyone's bad at stats and white people generally aren't learning stats so they can defend Black people, bullshit rides.

But it puts liberals in the "I know they're Nazis, but they've got a point here" position.

Then cable.

The "Alt-Right" came in exploiting gaps in white liberal understanding.

And the places where white liberals couldn't confront the stats, they leaned on weak arguments, trying to EXCUSE why Black people are more criminal than whites.

Which is crap. But still works.

Of course there's more white liberals trying to debate alt-white supremacists than there are Black people who understand the proper rebuttals and statistical flaws and surrounding context.

So the white liberal arguments become "The Arguments" and a whole debate rages for nothing

And those liberals who cling to white supremacy deep in their hearts, but feel bad about the fact that it's just "you know, statistically right" are the ones who minimize and dismiss those calling for an end to racist policing

"Cause I like Black people, but lets be honest here"

These are the PC liberals, who really ARE responsible for the concept of just being euphemistic to be polite, but in private "understand what's really going on, even though you'll get cancelled if you say it out loud"

There's a large swath of white liberalism that knows it's "wrong to be racist" and strive to not be racist ass in public but at the same time believes the underlying stereotypes.

The supremacists on the Right see this, and they exploit it to undermine actual liberal support.

When you see those liberals, who were all for Black rights until someone was mean to them and then became white supremacists?

That's what happened. They abandoned the dissonance.

If you listen to the alt-right. This is their recruiting tactic.

Because those white liberals KNEW they didn't believe their excuses for Black criminality.

They had been lying to themselves they thought.

And someone telling them they didn't have to uphold this lie and deny their whiteness...

That's everything.

This tactic worked even better with white Conservatives who wouldn't dirty their hands with overt racist arguments and felt social pressure to treat Black people like they weren't the criminals everyone knew they were.

This is why they loved Trump.

This is why the white supremacist wing of the "Skeptic" movement has spent years "debunking" white supremacy. Not white supremacy itself, the fact that anyone claims it's real.

The mainstreaming of "You don't have to really keep believing all this PC bullshit about race" has always been enticing to those who feel tired keeping up appearances.

No skepticism or analysis of the white supremacist structure and influences on their own beliefs necessary

"The same guys we like cause they debate creationists, we like cause they tell us white supremacy is fake news"

In the end, it's really hard for white people to be anti-racist because they:

1) Are, like everyone, bad at stats
2) Know racism is supposed to be bad, but never learned enough about whiteness to understand why.
3) Not affected by a failure to be anti-racism.
4) Benefit from it

And this is why racism isn't really despised in white America. Just tacky.

If you missed my threads on cynical and BS ways statistics are tortured to make Black people look bad... here you go.

https://twitter.com/absurdistwords/status/1364240346469855232