Brilliant. Your writing brings into focus facts that most don’t have the courage to articulate from any community- left or right. As for using the N word in comparison to the dreaded “cis” word- it is carelessly hyperbolic.
I heard someone articulate on Substack the perfect way to think about that dubious prefix: “The term “cis” is hate speech invented by trans activists to pretend women are a “subset” of women. We are the only type of woman. No man can become a woman. Humans cannot change sex”. Simple, easy and you don’t have to rent someone else’s experience or history to make your point.
Excellent piece. I read a similar thing this morning from the Jewish perspective, who feel the same way about how their painful history is appropriated for rhetorical gotchas.
Kristin is always thoughtful. But I must disagree with her and your contention here. Analogy is not the same as equivalence.
Mike Brock wrote an excellent post about this the other day. Excerpt plus link:
"If one cannot deploy apt historical analogy as a cautionary tale of where things might lead if certain actions are not taken, because it risks evoking an emotional response in the public, then what even is the point of learning history? You cannot warn about a fire until the house has burned down. You cannot invoke the patterns of history until history has fully repeated. The lesson of the Holocaust becomes: we will know it when we see the camps. And not a moment before."
The issue isn’t that people reach for historical analogy, it’s the selective deployment of Black American history, specifically. Not Chinese history. Not Mexican history. Not Irish or Indigenous history.
Slavery, Jim Crow, Ruby Bridges, the N-word—these are treated as a kind of moral shorthand for whenever an argument needs urgency or legitimacy…regardless of fit. At this point, Black history isn’t being learned from; it’s being used.
I’m not saying other histories are NEVER referenced. I’m saying Black American history has become the default. That asymmetry is the point of this post.
Thank you for your analysis, Kristin. There is so much racism in the gender-critical" world, and I am planning to write a piece expanding on one aspect of how they use the black struggle to prove their point.
Kudos to you for opening discussion on this topic. The dismissive, patronizing comment you received from a white feminist is one of the reasons why I keep my comment section paid-only, especially when it comes to topics about race and anti-blackness.✌🏾
Black suffering is amplified when it supports fashionable causes and quietly ignored when it complicates them."
Woyyyy! I had to read this again because this is super spot on. I've been grappling with my feelings about this immigration issue as someone who is half "FBA", and my other parent was an undocumented black immigrant from the Caribbean.
Powerful analysis on how historical trauma gets weaponized. The section on visa overstay comparisons to slavery was especially sharp becuase it highlights the fundamental differance between forced bondage and border enforcement. I've noticed this pattern across political debates where Black history becomes the go-to moral currency regardless of how poorly the analogy actually fits. The selective outrage point cuts deep too.
Brilliant. Your writing brings into focus facts that most don’t have the courage to articulate from any community- left or right. As for using the N word in comparison to the dreaded “cis” word- it is carelessly hyperbolic.
I heard someone articulate on Substack the perfect way to think about that dubious prefix: “The term “cis” is hate speech invented by trans activists to pretend women are a “subset” of women. We are the only type of woman. No man can become a woman. Humans cannot change sex”. Simple, easy and you don’t have to rent someone else’s experience or history to make your point.
Anyway, thank you for writing this.
Excellent piece. I read a similar thing this morning from the Jewish perspective, who feel the same way about how their painful history is appropriated for rhetorical gotchas.
Kristin is always thoughtful. But I must disagree with her and your contention here. Analogy is not the same as equivalence.
Mike Brock wrote an excellent post about this the other day. Excerpt plus link:
"If one cannot deploy apt historical analogy as a cautionary tale of where things might lead if certain actions are not taken, because it risks evoking an emotional response in the public, then what even is the point of learning history? You cannot warn about a fire until the house has burned down. You cannot invoke the patterns of history until history has fully repeated. The lesson of the Holocaust becomes: we will know it when we see the camps. And not a moment before."
https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-crisis-no-4
The issue isn’t that people reach for historical analogy, it’s the selective deployment of Black American history, specifically. Not Chinese history. Not Mexican history. Not Irish or Indigenous history.
Slavery, Jim Crow, Ruby Bridges, the N-word—these are treated as a kind of moral shorthand for whenever an argument needs urgency or legitimacy…regardless of fit. At this point, Black history isn’t being learned from; it’s being used.
I'm sure that people have also written opinions referencing Chinese, Mexican, Irish, Indigenous, you-name-it history.
Here's one referencing Italian fascists:
https://lucid.substack.com/p/the-logic-of-public-violence-my-conversation
And one referencing the Chilean junta:
https://lucid.substack.com/p/militarized-masculinity-from-pinochets
I’m not saying other histories are NEVER referenced. I’m saying Black American history has become the default. That asymmetry is the point of this post.
Well, as you can see from this thread alone, people say the same thing about Jewish history.
Thank you for your analysis, Kristin. There is so much racism in the gender-critical" world, and I am planning to write a piece expanding on one aspect of how they use the black struggle to prove their point.
Kudos to you for opening discussion on this topic. The dismissive, patronizing comment you received from a white feminist is one of the reasons why I keep my comment section paid-only, especially when it comes to topics about race and anti-blackness.✌🏾
Black suffering is amplified when it supports fashionable causes and quietly ignored when it complicates them."
Woyyyy! I had to read this again because this is super spot on. I've been grappling with my feelings about this immigration issue as someone who is half "FBA", and my other parent was an undocumented black immigrant from the Caribbean.
Thank you soo much for this poignant perspective
Powerful analysis on how historical trauma gets weaponized. The section on visa overstay comparisons to slavery was especially sharp becuase it highlights the fundamental differance between forced bondage and border enforcement. I've noticed this pattern across political debates where Black history becomes the go-to moral currency regardless of how poorly the analogy actually fits. The selective outrage point cuts deep too.