i have to admit that
i am struck by the rage, and the violence, as phillip has discussed;
however, i do see it as a race/sex/class issue.
had these kids been black and poor, we would talk about the race/class/.
that these kids are white is as much an issue of racial privilege as
anything,
the ideology of entitlement, for one; we know the disfunctions that
come with poverty but not the disfunctions enabled with wealth, elitism,
and lives of the rich, the rich and the white.
and that these kids were "marginalized", i admit, offends me.
suddenly, now that white boys can claim to be marginalized,
everyone wants to talk about it, and i think WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU
for Matthew Shepard? talk about the effects of marginalization,
...
these kids were Marilyn Mansonites. i.e. did the makeup and adopted
the attitude, mutated some beliefs towards a hate-based ideology,
and so it is possible to understand how the other rich white students
might have discomfort with this, (not that there's anything wrong with
Manson, but the strategy in daily life is, certainly, deliberately
alienating)
i am really resisting the representation of the shooters as victims.
maybe this is a personal issue, obscuring my pretenses of objectivity,
but, ya... it is an issue of race, whiteness matters. boys and guns.
don't tell me it isn't a gender issue also. marc lepine, don't even start
trying to list 'em 'cause there is something quite homogeneous about the
perpetrators in these
heinous crimes and it needs to be discussed, i think, it needs to be out there.
diane
""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
When she walks,
the revolution's coming.
In her hips, there's revolution.
When she talks, I hear revolution.
In her kiss, I taste the revolution.
(poem by Kathleen Hanna: Riot Grrl)
******************************************
diane celia hodges
university of british columbia
centre for the study of curriculum and knowledge
vancouver, british columbia, canada