Thomas ZimmerMar 9, 2023

The discrepancy in how the label “activist” is applied in mainstream media reporting and commentary is really striking - and this is true for all different kinds of issues: Conservatives are concerned parents or citizens - people on the Left or perceived as progressives are “activists.”

https://twitter.com/notabigjerk/status/1633497574236643330?s=46&t=1xecvNVImNo8TKt3oEvqnA

تغريدة / Twitter

Twitter
Pete MeadowsMar 9, 2023
Show threadThomas Zimmer
People storming school board meetings are “concerned parents,” which implies that their motives are genuine and just, basically shielding their “concerns” from political scrutiny; but students protesting a racist speaker are always “activists,” never “concerned young people.”
Mar 9, 2023 at 2:45pmIvory for iOS
Show threadThomas ZimmerMar 9, 2023
I’m fine with examining the underlying political and ideological dimension of people’s actions in the public square. But let’s not reserve that scrutiny just for “leftwing” causes: All those “concerned” conservatives are very much part of a radicalizing reactionary political project.
Show threadRogue DogMar 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history I have noticed this but I guess only internally as I had never verbalized it so succinctly as you just did. It seems to me that it may be intrinsic to their overarching propaganda—another label that they have long weaponized—so long that we no longer notice? Same with the “patriot” label and how they’ve targeted every demographic (conservative millionaires squaring themselves against “coastal elites,” swamp/deep state/establishment, etc.) They claim so many enemies to their alt reality, victimization trope that some smart “activist” types ought to be able to determine a new angle from which we may be able to energize resistance to their fascist oriented endgame?? I often feel like there are so many fronts and then I bemoan my thinking in warfare terms when “these folks” are my friggin neighbors and I am reacting exactly as expected/directed? 1/2
Show threadRogue DogMar 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history This response is already too long (sorry!) but why I often come back to thinking our biggest problem is our polarization and rw propaganda (but maybe also far left?) And until we develop a cohesive response/playbook our struggles will remain reactive firefighting. Shwew, again apologies for being long-winded, your post obviously struck a nerve—thank you!
Show threadKevinMar 9, 2023

@SumTingJuan @tzimmer_history The problem is that left and right are coming from completely different core principles. It's much harder to have a unified response from the left because the core belief is in plurality, diversity, democracy. All people should be heard, etc. Well, people are going to disagree with each other because that's how people are.

The right believes in autocracy and hierarchy and is fine having a leader just tell them what to do. It's just the complete opposite and I don't know how to get around that.

Biden is... fine, I guess, but I certainly wouldn't want him dictating everything the left does. I can't think of anyone on the left I'd want in a position of power akin to Trump's.

Show threadLauren HugMar 11, 2023
@SumTingJuan @tzimmer_history @KevinLikesMaps Kevin, I wonder much the same thing. How does a society committed to plurality, diversity, and participation justly and fairly address those within the society whose “one right way” beliefs would destroy society when dominant and become dangerously isolationist when left entirely to their own devices?
Show threadKevinMar 11, 2023

@laurenhug @SumTingJuan @tzimmer_history Ideally, strong institutions and the rule of law would rein them in. This is precisely why the fascists been trying to break that down. They've spent decades packing the courts and suppressing votes. If they hadn't been allowed to do that we wouldn't be here.

Also, countries with fascist pasts (e.g. Germany) do not have the freedom of speech we do. I am not sure of my position on that, but it's worth some reflection on whether certain kinds of speech need to be restricted. (I hate even saying that, but we've seen what happened to the "marketplace of ideas.")

Show threadLauren HugMar 11, 2023
@SumTingJuan @KevinLikesMaps @tzimmer_history I used to think rule of law was an answer, but it’s only as good as the rules & laws that exist. The American system has never made room for true diversity & plurality. It was designed by & for a specific group of people who agreed on most things about how the world worked & only disagreed on a small subset of issues. I’m not sure rule of law works when the scope of inquiry is widened to our system’s design.
Show threadKevinMar 11, 2023

@laurenhug I'm not sure true diversity and plurality has ever been achieved anywhere. The US definitely has a poor history of it. I'm not sure most people even want it. Humans are just prone to divisiveness; if it's not race or religion then it's something else.

But it's a goal we can strive towards and rule of law is the best tool we have for laying the groundwork. I acknowledge that the system has always worked best for cis white male landowners. However, until recently other groups had been making steady progress BECAUSE of the court system. If that fails, everything fails.

Show threadAlan TwigzMar 10, 2023
@SumTingJuan @tzimmer_history Conservatives want to be normal the way we want to breathe
Show threadSphinx of Black QuartzMar 9, 2023

@tzimmer_history

In particular, I wish journalists weren't so blandly incurious about where these allegedly-grassroots organizations came from. A local "Concerned Parents Association" with only three visible members (two of whom aren't local) but a slick and polished internet presence, out-of-state experts-for-hire, and millions of dollars in funding? That stinks of astroturfing, and news media should cover it as such.

Show threadAlan TwigzMar 10, 2023
@tzimmer_history They have outsized access to media, too - every "concerned parent" and "local citizen" on a network affiliate news show just so happens to be a campaign manager, or married to a lobbyist, or own a business that contracts with local government, etc
Show threadRotfarmMar 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history framing is everything <3
Show threadElennaMar 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history it's curious how you can be a "concerned parent" and not an "activist" if you're a conservative organizing to take over school board meeting of schools that your kids don't go to. Or even if you don't have kids. Wild.
Show threadLauren HugMar 11, 2023
@tzimmer_history @elexia And the parents of the kids IN those schools asking the school board to protect their actual kids (not hypothetical ones) and preserve their actual kids’ access to real education are labeled “activists,” not “concerned parents.” Ridiculous.
Show threadElennaMar 11, 2023
@laurenhug @tzimmer_history yep
Show threadmtswMar 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history and often the "concerned parents" are either not parents of school-age children or send their own kids to private school or homeschool them
Show threadMichael KleinMar 9, 2023
@tzimmer_history this didn't occur to me but it's so true. Yet another data point on how the media tries to subtly support the fascists
Show threadLeianoraMar 9, 2023
@likelyjanlukas @tzimmer_history Yet another way to say do as I say not as I do. Bleh!
Show threadMatt PalmerMar 10, 2023

@tzimmer_history that's one of those irregular adjectives: I'm concerned, you're an activist, they're a dirty commie who wants to destroy our entire way of life.

(With apologies to "Yes, Prime Minister")

Show threadFrank Westphal FellaMar 11, 2023
@tzimmer_history This is a good point. There are a lot of subtle assumptions that take place in most of us subconsciously with wording. Unfortunately, we need to be aware of it more than ever now.
Show threadJackie GardinaMar 11, 2023
@tzimmer_history I would also note, most student protests are organic, grassroots responses to an issues versus an event orchestrated by a national organization funded by dark money, such as the so-called “Moms for Liberty”. https://www.mediamatters.org/critical-race-theory/unmasking-moms-liberty
Unmasking Moms for Liberty

Media Matters for America