I'm personally happy to 'take you at your word' that you've done 'bits and bobs'. Bits and bobs doesn't actually sound a lot but - just so you don't think I'm making some kind of more activist than thou point - probably describes my own level of activism over the last 2/3 years (for similar reasons - health). But yes, part of my reason for asking that question was part of the battle on this thread. If you say you are appalled by racism, what are you doing about racism seems like a reasonable question to me. But there's a more important level to it. Racism has been there for a long time. The extent to which the right version of Brexit focused that racism, precipitated it is a matter for debate. But racism and nationalism didn't start with Brexit. If you want to oppose racism, by all means make your point about brexit. But that isn't the origin of racism. Seems more productive to focus on the nature of contemporary capitalism, to oppose the state and its divide and rule, to think about a world that uses parts of the globe as a repository for cheap labour.
Thank you for this.
I use 'bits and bobs' as a safe descriptor because it is an attempt to land somewhere between showing off, and insincere humility.
I certainly agree that racism has existed long before brexit, but I suppose part of my argument is that brexit can be used as a significant marker in the road. It seems to me to be (in relation to brexit) a 'look what you have done, do you really mean it, do you regret it?' kind of opportunity.
Maybe I see it as akin to casual everyday sexism where a major event such as the Weinstein scandal leads the unthinking to think again and to modify their behaviour.
Part of me thinks that there is an opportunity provided by brexit for people involved in casual (or overt) racism to think about the impact of what they have done and maybe change. In a dramatic see if racists actually see their 'foreign' neighbours dragged away and bundled onto transport, they might change their thinking quite a lot.
In another dramatic sense if people see checkposts and armed infrastructure on the Irish border they may think again about what they have done.
What will it achieve this time?
Probably not much in practical terms because brexit has won, but possibly when the next big event comes along people might consider the impact of what they do more carefully. So I bang on about the border because I want the impact of brexit to be made manifest, certainly not because I want a border to exist.
Apologies if I am mixing you up with somebody else, but if it was you, did your encounter with the child of an IRA person introduce anything to your thinking regarding the border?
