The Fighting 44s

Further to the point I make in the conclusion of my piece on extremism in race-perception and race-based groups, I want to emphasize that I’m not exaggerating the extent of what these extremist advocates will say.

When I wrote my piece on inter-racial relationships and advocacy, I was immediately accused of being, of all things, not even a racist, but a woman-oppressor. By saying that people who lead race-based groups ought to be hooking up with people of their race, I was controlling, dominating, oppressing womens’ bodies and sexuality.

Not long after, the Fighting 44s got labeled as an extremist site with an anti-inter-racial position. That, as I’ve explained in my two latest pieces, couldn’t be further from the truth. We support interracial love and sex wholeheartedly; we just think that in one particular context, it can have a harmful social effect.

Do you see what happened?

We actually support feminism (in it’s healthy, possibly “third wave” or “integrating” form), we recognize the struggles of females, both Asian and not, we acknowledge the oppressiveness of patriarchy, we want all people to be free and loving and happy. But because we are simply suggesting that Asian women and men stop and consider the consequences of their interracial relationships when they’re in the public eye, we are called women-oppressors. We are called racist.

Is this a rational response? A sane response?

All I can hear is an echo of a slogan from not too long ago, one chanted by people who championed freedom and equality and compassion:

“If you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists!”

And what am I hearing now?

If you’re not with us, you’re with the misogynists and the racists.

And people wonder why advocates and liberals and left-wingers, people who are dedicated to looking out for women and minorities, get such a bad name?

I, and I’m sure many of you, have encountered women who stand for everything which feminists believe in: freedom, equality, healthy standards of beauty, confidence, compassion, opportunity. But despite their similarity in principles, these women vehemently deny that they are “feminists” when asked, in some part because of the extreme views and acts perpetuated by some of these self-styled feminists who make everyone look foolish and ludicrous. I find it sad that women would feel the need to disavow feminism to maintain social credibility in the eyes of both other women and men, and I find it telling that the advocates consider that to be an acceptable state of affairs. The attitude is not so different from the way Asian advocates deal with the inter-racial representation issue.

But then, I’m with the terrorists. I’m with Bin Laden and the Balcony Rapist and the Ku Klux Klan, so what would I know about freedom, and love, and equality?

I’m not fighting against you. You’re fighting the darkness cast by your own shadow.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Advocacy & Activism, Opinion, Politics, Sex & Relationships, Social Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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