These people are in charge. They decide what the rules are. If they don’t decide that hate crimes against fellow students are against the rules, then hate crimes against students are allowed, and they happen. Granted, the kids who participate in it are still hateful monsters, and are responsible for their actions. But they are being taught to be hateful monsters. Every time they are permitted to act like hateful monsters, they are learning that it is acceptable to be this way.
Sady Doyle, “Hey, Everybody: Let’s Define ‘Neutral!’”
I wanted to post this because I like a little righteous outrage in the morning. This is something to be outraged about, and I urge you to go read it. But “these kids are hateful monsters” - I don’t think that’s useful. I don’t know the kids who bullied Justin Aaberg into suicide. They’ve done a monstrous thing. But that thing is not all they are, any more than gay was all Aaberg was.
From elsewhere on Tumblr today: “Turning a human being into a thing is almost always the first step toward justifying violence against that person.”
