so, lauryn hill has this song, and it's a love song, and there's this line: "you're the only one who don't turn my upside down". i thought about all the people i love and might love me back, and it occurred to me that they all turned my upside down in one way or another, which is why i love them. so. my mantra, as it were.
i should explain more fully. i linked to this article because it was the first that i saw commenting on the implications of what we might term as "charity culture". that being said, the privilege of the man writing this article is clearly seen by his refusal to acknowledge the bind this realization puts us in as people who want to hold government responsible, but also don't really expect that the government will do the right thing. in other words, what does ethics demand of us as individuals who believe in accountability on micro (individual) and macro (governmental/structural) levels, and what happens when what is necessary for one level contradicts what is necessary on the other? in this case, i would say that my choice is invariably to do what is most beneficial to the most people in this moment, keeping in mind the structural imperfections that make us scramble in our day to day. when is it ever okay to let someone suffer needlessly (by which i mean, you could do something to ameliorate the situation, if not the context in that moment) to prove a broader theoretical point? never. never. but ethics is also broader than making donations to the red cross, which is really the point that i was trying to make perhaps because ultimately, we all make choices. while NO is incredible because of the sheer scale and visibility of the racist constructs that feed government (in)action, most of us see it everyday. so while we may never truly be comfortable with the choices we make - who we may choose to give money to on the street or what organization we contribute to or whatever - let's talk about the term "refugee" and the ways it is being used right now. on the right and the left, the use of refugee is a reflection of internalized racism, or at least imprecision of language. by using the term refugee to describe those displaced from NO is not only imprecise, but also reflects how we actually view poor people, and in particular, brown poor people. while there may be some shared characteristics of those displaced from NO to refugees, the crucial difference is that those displaced from NO are supposed to be protected from statelessness by virtue of their citizenship, which has been denied to refugees. the use of refugees is really about saying that those from NO who are now being relocated because they couldn't afford to get out before the worst hit, don't belong. let's not forget that while there are people on the ground doing incredible, important work for those who are displaced, that the responsibility of government is to take care of its citizens. otherwise, why have government? which is all to say, we must do both - both act to help our displaced sisters and brothers who live all over, while remembering that government needs to be held accountable. it seems to me that the greater task will always be trying to figure out how to hold government responsible.
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i should explain more fully. i linked to this article because it was the first that i saw commenting on the implications of what we might term as "charity culture". that being said, the privilege of the man writing this article is clearly seen by his refusal to acknowledge the bind this realization puts us in as people who want to hold government responsible, but also don't really expect that the government will do the right thing. in other words, what does ethics demand of us as individuals who believe in accountability on micro (individual) and macro (governmental/structural) levels, and what happens when what is necessary for one level contradicts what is necessary on the other? in this case, i would say that my choice is invariably to do what is most beneficial to the most people in this moment, keeping in mind the structural imperfections that make us scramble in our day to day. when is it ever okay to let someone suffer needlessly (by which i mean, you could do something to ameliorate the situation, if not the context in that moment) to prove a broader theoretical point? never. never. but ethics is also broader than making donations to the red cross, which is really the point that i was trying to make perhaps because ultimately, we all make choices. while NO is incredible because of the sheer scale and visibility of the racist constructs that feed government (in)action, most of us see it everyday. so while we may never truly be comfortable with the choices we make - who we may choose to give money to on the street or what organization we contribute to or whatever - let's talk about the term "refugee" and the ways it is being used right now. on the right and the left, the use of refugee is a reflection of internalized racism, or at least imprecision of language. by using the term refugee to describe those displaced from NO is not only imprecise, but also reflects how we actually view poor people, and in particular, brown poor people. while there may be some shared characteristics of those displaced from NO to refugees, the crucial difference is that those displaced from NO are supposed to be protected from statelessness by virtue of their citizenship, which has been denied to refugees. the use of refugees is really about saying that those from NO who are now being relocated because they couldn't afford to get out before the worst hit, don't belong. let's not forget that while there are people on the ground doing incredible, important work for those who are displaced, that the responsibility of government is to take care of its citizens. otherwise, why have government? which is all to say, we must do both - both act to help our displaced sisters and brothers who live all over, while remembering that government needs to be held accountable. it seems to me that the greater task will always be trying to figure out how to hold government responsible.
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