Feminists and other social justice advocates have been saying for ages that we don't have time to cater to privileged people's feelings or tone-police ourselves, but it's especially true now. There are simply so many things we don't have time for under Donald Trump. Now that the rights of marginalized people are even more at stake — and now that privileged people are even more privileged — our attention needs to go toward those who need it most.
During his first week in office, Trump has already made a number of drastic changes to our country and the world. He has prohibited the use of U.S. government money to fund any organization that could potentially make abortions accessible (even just providing information about the procedure), ordered the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, issued an executive order to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and banned people from entering the United States from seven Muslim majority countries, to name a few. And this is just the beginning.
During this time, it is imperative that we stop worrying about non-issues and instead devote our time and energy toward organizing, protesting, and supporting the people most in danger. There are tons of ways to do that, from calling your representatives to mounting boycotts.
In the meantime, here are some things we need to stop worrying about, because we simply do not have time for them. The urgency of our era is far too great.
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Worrying About "All Lives"
As I mentioned, the lives of racial minorities are particularly at risk right now, and talking about how "all lives matter" only detracts from this issue. Same goes for talking about "egalitarianism" instead of feminism when the rights of women and gender-nonconforming people are disproportionately in danger.
Still need some clarification? This comic perfectly explains the problem with saying "all lives matter."
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Tone Policing
The Trump administration has left us with many reasons to be angry, but our anger is not the problem. The things that make us angry are the problem. So, instead of trying to voice our concerns gently so that privileged people won't feel guilty or offended, we should focus on just getting the message across. People need to be called out; how we call them out is less important.
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Educating Privileged People
Asking marginalized people to explain society's problems to privileged people is yet another way of demanding free labor from them. If you're a man who wants to understand feminism, a white person who wants to learn how to be an anti-racist ally, or a straight, cis person who wants to support the LGBTQ community, do some research and refer to the many, many articles and videos on these topics that are free for you to read before asking your friends to explain them.
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Making Social Justice Seem Relevant To Privileged People
Many white women who participated in the Women's March haven't been as active in Black Lives Matter protests and other efforts geared toward helping women of color. This needs to change. It's our job to care about all oppressed groups, because they don't have the time to make their issues seem more relevant to us. Similarly, we shouldn't have to tell men that their wives or daughters could be affected by a sexist policy in order for them to oppose it. Look where that's gotten us.
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Excluding Anyone
Trans-exclusionary women's spaces, cissexist language, predominantly white feminist groups, and other things that exclude people have no place during a time when inclusion is extra important. Once again, making a privileged person more comfortable isn't worth it if it stops us from fighting the system that gives them privilege in the first place.