of course we’re furious
of course we’re disappointed
of course we’re worried
but if we wield shame in the same way it’s been used to oppress us, then we end up engaging in a zero-sum game.
i’ve also been seeing a lot on the internet about media literacy, specifically about the ability to understand nuance. this type of empathy and compassion is hard to access but is necessary for us to move away from how domain and culture has taught us to believe in punishment. everything that’s big, is made of the small: notice how zero-tolerance policies in education can extrapolate into what we’re witnessing now. it’s all connected!
we need people to be accountable and that doesn’t involve shame or isolation. if we want different, we also have to do different. and that mess is hard but not impossible.