In case you didn't know, a whole bunch of regular writers/commenters at Daily Kos are boycotting that site this week over the effect the recent purge had on African Americans. As you can see by the item at the top of the sidebar over to the right of here, I'm standing in solidarity with the boycotters.
My thoughts about the tone of the conversation at that blog go back to the great pie war of 2005. I watched that happen (was a blog lurker at that time) and was appalled. To be honest - it rocked my naive little world in the sense that for the first time, I watched a group of mostly progressive men treat women worse that I had experienced living amongst conservative right wingers. And I realized that my lurking and lack of participation had been because I was intimidated by the dick-swinging tone of the place. That's embarrassing to admit now, but its true. Our female conditioning to that kind of thing runs deep and unconscious much of the time.
Later I went back to write/comment there for awhile. I think it was mostly to prove to myself that I could handle it...my way. And I'm proud of the record I left there.
What led to my second exit was that I experienced the same kind of dogma about some particular "progressive issues" that I had seen from the fundamentalist family/community in which I'd spent the first 20 years of my life. The issues were different, but the message was the same...don't ask questions. Due to my personal experience with that one, its something I absolutely cannot tolerate.
So the fact that a blog site with that kind of record cannot have reasonable conversations about the topic of race comes as no surprise to me. And given that the owner of the site - as well as most of his staff - have always come down on the side of the status quo (white male dogmatic privilege), I doubt there is much possibility for change.
The boycott, last I heard, was scheduled to last one week. Absent any specific demands by those who are participating and/or a coordinated effort to publicly shame the blog for its practices, I don't expect that it will apply the kind of pressure that will be needed for change.
I have tremendous respect for those who will return and try to fight the good fight. And I will do all I can to support them in any way I can. But for me, when placed in the scheme of the political challenges we face today, I chose to put my energies where I think they can have the most impact.
Overall, I see Daily Kos sinking into a sea of irrelevance. And I agree with Deaniac...those of us in the pragmatic progressive blogosphere are the speedboats to the Daily Kos oceanliner. We're the wave of the future because we're committed to results over rage. And I'm ready to do all I can to build up that alternative.
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Amen to that Smartypants. I haven't been on that site or FDL for 4 years. It is just too much for me to read the crap that comes out of their mouths. If I wanted to read junk like that, I would go to Red State. :)
ReplyDeleteRoberta in MN
Well put.
ReplyDeleteThanks, SP :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm mint julep and I can't figure out how to sign up here.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! Intimidation is the weapon of choice on Dkos. Markos and I had a couple of run-ins when I dared not like the site changes. And I do remember the pie fight and I staid out of it out of disgust. I know now that was a mistake, but I staid on because there were a lot of people I really liked. Most of them are gone now anyway.
Not sure if I'm welcome here because I have some serious problems with some of the Presidents policies, but we shall see.
After seven years on Dkos I feel homeless. How sad is that?
From what I'm told by someone still reading there during the boycott, a substantial number of folks there are really enjoying a pretty mean mockathon/snarkfest at the expense of those who left. It's just so very sad that so many are fighting so hard to maintain the status quo,no matter what the consequences are to "others".
ReplyDeleteMint - Of course you're welcome here! Whether or not you'll enjoy it is another thing - LOL.
ReplyDeleteMy policy is that folks can say what they want - as will I.
I draw the line at any kind of disrespectful speech - whether that's towards the president, myself, or any other poster here.
I enjoy disagreements. But I won't tolerate disrespect.
scribe - its the total lack of any capacity for empathy with those of differing opinions that makes the place so toxic...and so opposed to anything I consider progressive.
ReplyDeleteI'm also supporting the boycott but doubt that it will result in the changes needed. I expect a reasonable amount of moderation at sites I frequent. To go from zero moderation to just shutting down users left and right without trying to gain any knowledge of the history and conflicts doesn't bode well. - Sylv
ReplyDeleteBy the time I found out about the boycott it was on. So, I'll voice my support here, but I won't break the boycott to do it there. I just don't go there that often any more. The truth is that the innovative political conversation moved from DK many years ago. I love this site Smartypants. Keep up the good work.---Anna Luc
ReplyDeleteWell put. I go there rarely . Usually to rec some one like Eclectablog.
ReplyDeleteI have a low ID number and had been there a while but could not tolerate the hate. I feel much better with blogs like yours and TOD
DailyKOS is a huge site. The problem has many dimensions to it. One of the problems, and its a significant one, is that many of the troublemakers there are a) not Democrats or b) don't consider DailyKOS their primary home blog. In fact, many of the rabble rousers are from Firedoglake. They don't care about DailyKOS. Their principle motivation is to sow dissension and garner supporters for their cause which is the destruction of the Democratic Party.
ReplyDeleteIn agreement with all you said. Here is my narrative about that site from http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/09/black-people-brown-people-and-white.html
ReplyDelete"Whatever Dailykos was at one point in time, its legacy of being a real progressive blog is a thing of the past as far as I am concerned. Today, what we see and the types of so called "progressive" advocates Dailykos is producing are nothing but a bunch of Obama hating enablers who lie about this President and his accomplishments no matter the facts. The fact is, the spirit and legacy of the people who once had strong voices to advancing "big tent" progressive values at Dailykos is DEAD. It's GONE and rather replaced with MyDD 2.0 version."
While I stopped posting and logging in for the week as well, as I feel there is a larger point to be made that bigotry needs to be dealt with more quickly and harshly onsite, I have been reading articles still, and have to admit most of the pie fighting has simply stopped dead. The articles posted are of better quality, the pure navel-gazing meta is at very low levels, and that whole middle-school meanness seems to have evaporated while the site actually focuses on actual politics. Reading your other comments, I suspect that might be news that doesn't fit with the beliefs of the rest of the folks that read here, but it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 8:18
ReplyDeleteWhat you're saying comes as no surprise to me. Discussions about race are uncomfortable - by definition. When you take away the irritant (people of color speaking up for themselves), I'm sure it all feels better for those who are left. That was the whole point of segregation in the first place.