Thread by @camcamdamn

Imagine a child in a school playground. This child pinches other children, but she only targets children belonging to a minority group. The pincher is subtle; she does it only when teachers aren't looking.
But other kids see her do it, and following her lead, they join in.

https://twitter.com/PhilipPullman/status/1417455238039150626

The kids being pinched don't deserve it. They just want to be left alone.
But the pinching child is telling everyone this minority group is dangerous. As evidence, the child shows everyone the scar of an old dog bite.
See, they say. Proof. Dogs bite; these children will too.

So the other kids (many of whom disliked this minority group anyway) are pinching, sometimes escalating to hitting, punching. The minority children, when they point this out, are told "when they go low, we go high" and encouraged to not retaliate. "Just ignore them."

One day the bullied children retaliate. They yell at the pincher to leave them alone. One kicks them very, very hard in the shin.
The pincher bursts into tears, runs to the teacher and shows the bruise.
I'm the victim, they say. Look. This PROVES the minority kids are dangerous.

The other bullies are outraged. All they did was pinch and pinch this group of bullied children. Pinching isn't the same as kicking. No matter how many times they do it.
The poor pincher is right. The minority kids are exactly like the dog that bit her. Justification!

The teacher tries to point out that although kicking is wrong, pinching the children, who are already being bullied because of their minority status by bigots, is worse.
The bullies can't believe their ears.
This is proof the rights of the minority group supercede their own.

They want the teacher to ban the minority group from the playground.
The teacher points out that the playground is public.
But the bullies are furious at this suggestion. The playground is a safe space for us, they say. The minority group is dangerous. They are taking our rights.

The teacher tries to explain that although bad things happen in playgrounds, the minority group aren't specifically to blame.
The bullies don't care. They don't belong, they say.
The first pinching child, meanwhile, tells a moving story about being bitten by a dog.

The pincher points out that dogs are not allowed in the playground for this reason.
If dogs are banned from the playground, they say, why do we allow these specific children to use it when this minority are just as dangerous? Look at the bruise on my shin!
The bullies agree.

The teacher tries to point out the although biting dogs are common, the children from the minority group are not dogs.
Wrong, they say. They ARE dogs pretending to be children so they can come to the playground and bite people.
The teacher tries to point out this is ridiculous.

Meanwhile the minority group is trying to point out that they just want to play in the playground like everyone else.
Everytime they try, the bullies call them dogs, and accuse them of being predatory.
The bullies are secure in the knowledge they are right.