I know its intended to incite action, which is certainly overdue. But it has its downside too, mainly that it alienates folks.
A lot of white people claim to be anti-racists but are unwilling to actually act on it, including the most basic step of speaking up when they see it happen, or acknowledging the existence of structural racism. In other words, their claim is more performative and about convincing themselves and others that they are Good People, than actually being interested in challenging a status quo that obviously wrongs a lot of people.
This is also known as being an "enabler" - that is, allowing others to do wrong by looking the other way.
"Silence is violence" merely calls this out. It reminds us that we are enablers of this violence if we remain silent.
The vast majority of defensiveness I see in response to this pretty much just boils down to worrying about one's own position of being seen as a Good Person (by themselves and by others), instead of worrying about what is actually the right thing to do.
If half of the population (the people with power) directly benefits from an unjust system, but says nothing about it, it will never be addressed.
There is a conflict of interest.
How can you benefit from an injustice, stay silent, and still just passively hope it will get fixed? Hundreds of years in isn’t proof enough that sitting around hoping someone else fixes it doesn’t work?
Fix what? Slavery (including the enslavement of whites) is not legal, at least not in the US. Everything is de-segregated and we have laws to protect certain classes of minorities. Beyond legalities I see black-promotion constantly in media. Everything looks perfectly fine from my perspective (I could do without the propaganda though). As a reminder our last president was (half) black.
You're imagining that the US is not beneficial historically to everyone. There's a reason people from Europe, Asia, latin america, etc. immigrated to America. They didn't come because "America is only benefits white slave-owners!" The entire point of the "american dream" is that people without power can find a way to prosper. Are we supposed to pretend none of that ever happened?
So what is this injustice du jour that suddenly, over the last few weeks, has become so pressing? Policing? I don't think there's evidence to support that blacks are targetted by cops because they're black. Poor neighborhoods probably do require more policing than non-poor neighborhoods as, naturally, criminal activity is more prevalent amongst the poor. Relative to other minorities my understanding is that blacks are underperforming in various ways. Surely you can't be so easily deluded into believing statements like "our black kids are being killed by cops every minute!" More whites are killed by cops. Blacks are overrepresented in proportion to their population. That blacks are overrepresented in certain figures does not support a radical claim like "systemic racism," contrary to Twitter logic.
Is it some other "injustice" you're so worked up about? Is it some imaginary injustice that is not even possible to resolve? Why don't you be specific about your radical claims; your statements are empty Twitter platitudes as far as I'm concerned.
Frankly, I resent the implication that I, as a white, am somehow benefiting from "injustice."
when you get this fundamental assertion wrong why would anyone bother reading anything else you have to say on the subject?
i recommend reading the 13th amendment again.
"Looking the other way" in the face of blatant racism is of course bad and, IMHO, inexcusable, but it's usually a lot more subtle than this. Besides, that if speaking up may have real consequences for you? What if it risks alienating life-long friends, your job, your volunteer work? And will speaking up actually achieve anything?
Also some people might choose to focus on different aspects of society to improve. A day has only 24 hours, and there are many possible topics you can fight for. Not everyone needs to fight for every cause.
Change requires many people to stop accepting the status quo.
And that requires broad awareness.
Awareness requires people talking to other people.
the problem is, we have multiple parties that are at odds with one another, and there are only two ways to come to an agreement. Either both parties have good will and are willing to cooperate, or one party submits to the other.
"Silence is violence" is telling me to submit, not cooperate, so why would i care to sink time into proving I'm a good person when the general attitude has no good will for my position?
further, I'm also concerned that violence is generally reciprocated with more violence. This sentiment lays the groundwork to commit real violence against good people that are just trying to mind their own business.
Partisans will accuse anyone who dissents of racism or self-hatred and internalized racism.