#systemic reform

[itsmythang]

Another day. Another threat. Another Black child terrorized by those sworn to protect. 17 year old Trevion Taylor was leaving an anti ICE protest when Indianapolis police pulled him over. What happened next was captured on video:

“I will f***ing kill you. Do you understand me?” This wasn’t policing. This was intimidation. This was a threat of state sanctioned violence against a child exercising his First Amendment rights. IMPD claims they were justified because someone in the car had a firearm. But threatening to KILL a teenager is never justified.

This is the culture we’re fighting to change, where our youth can’t protest, can’t drive, can’t exist without fearing for their lives. Trevion’s mother is filing a formal complaint. IMPD has opened an internal investigation. But we’ve seen this story before. Internal reviews aren’t enough. We need accountability. We need criminal charges. We need systemic change. Our children deserve better.

[system-of-a-feather]

Unironically if I had one thing to change about the CDD, plural, and just general mental health tumblr environment, it would be to just really ask white and/or western people to actually reflect on their culture and how it presents itself as a systemic power / privilege BEFORE stating white / western cultural values, perspectives and beliefs as facts

Research is biased in favor of white western colonialists

The legal system is biased in favor of white western colonialists

Medicine is biased in favor of white western colonialists

Science is biased in favor of white western colonialists

Art is biased in favor of white western colonialists

The mental health system is biased in favor of white western colonialists

Society is biased in favor of white western colonialists

There isn't really a thing in White Western Society that does not systemically boost White Western Values at the detriment - and often erasure or exploitation - of POC and their cultures and I REALLY wish white westerners would take a few minutes out of their day before stating things as "facts" to reflect on how systemic racism and colonialization might be playing a role in your sense of knowing, sense of superiority, and your "facts"

[jasperjv]

You know something that pisses me off? Drake Bell was "cancelled" or whatever for being inappropriate with teenage girls and embarrassingly immature. Now everyone's like "wow it turns out there are reasons he is the way he is" and suddenly you all feel bad for him like wow you don't fucking say. People have no space in their minds for critical thinking or nuance and it's infuriatingly lazy and unproductive, even counterproductive.

To quote @sapphling (RIP to that fucking blog gee I wonder what happened there:) (edit: the blog was soft banned but is back now)

it's just absurd how many "you have to think CRITICALLY about kink" addicted-to-talking-about-reading-comprehension types on here have fully and uncritically bought the standard societal narrative that sexual violence is something that happens because some people are Born Perverts and that those Perverts wake up every day saying "I love sexual violence. Sexual violence is my kink. Today I am going to do sexual violence." it's a very safe and very satisfying lie to swallow which lets you absolve the systems of power which produce sexual violence, as well as any complicity you could potentially hold by propping them up; and it goes further to absolve the self of any potential individual responsibility, because of Course you're not capable of reproducing sexual violence or violating another person's consent -- because that's what Perverts do, and you're not a Pervert, and maybe the Pervert even absolves you of a little bit of that unspeakable unmentionable bigotry in the back of your mind (think about how many marginalized people's "callouts" are met with an "I always knew something was wrong, she always made me uncomfortable to look at, I always thought they were probably a creep," justified ex post facto by the presence of Perversion). it's the same thing that dyed-in-the-wool conservatives do with Kill All Pedophiles, it's been the same since the early 20th century conceptualization of The Pervert to explain why communism and discontent were gaining a foothold, it's one of the most politically unifying impulses of normative society: justify the status quo, explain violence as an outlier, attribute the outlier to a monster, redirect anger and remorse and action towards the monster. the reason why new conceptualizations of Perversion feel right to you may be less due to an inherent political brilliance which your perfect soul can see in them -- and in fact it might do you well to consider if these conceptualizations follow through to fact, if they protect the vulnerable, if they offer keen insight which would disrupt an order which presently produces an overwhelming amount of violence; or if they simply feel right because their adoption is politically, rhetorically, psychologically, and physically very, very easy

[z4howard]

We have more work to do

[burninggravity]

If you want truly to understand something, try to change it.

Kurt Lewin

[annoyinglydarkflower]

I think it’s going to be two moments. The first moment’s going to be the election. And we just hope we can get through the election... But the other moment is when the verdict comes down as to whether policemen [in the George Floyd case] are actually convicted or not. It only takes one vote on a jury in order to impede the conviction. And then it’s very clear that the system does not have the capacity to reform itself. Because it’s not just the police. Now it’s the judges. And it’s the prosecutors. It’s the jury. You see, we’ve been through this before...The system is too tight. These killings went on by the hundreds under the Obama administration. And if you’ve got an Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, these are very decent folk. They got a lot of power. So you got a Black president, two Black attorney generals, and Black homeland security [secretary], and Black mayor, and sometimes a Black police commissioner, and you still can’t send these folks to jail. See, that’s a systemic problem. That’s not just individuals, you know? All that Black official power can’t translate into stopping the police murders of precious Black young people. That’s a system that is just rotten at the core.

Cornel West: Is America ‘even capable of treating the masses of Black people with decency and dignity’? Washington Post, 8/12/20

[system-of-a-feather]

I think its also important to know that something can be problematic in it's roots, be "colonialist" in nature and roots AND still be critically helpful and still used, especially if it is the best thing out there at the moment.

Most things in the world that are helpful and useful have issues playing a role in systemic oppression, systemic racism, and colonialism. Unfortunately, that is just the nature of those sorts of things - they're insidious and pervasive.

The fact that they have issues and play a role in those issues does NOT mean that they are immediately and inherently "broken" to the core and that they should be entirely boycotted / ignored / disqualified or anything.

Yes there ARE some things so fundamentally built upon it that to call for "reform" or "improvement" to lessen the role and impact it plays into systemic oppression, racism, and colonialism would almost require the complete abolition of all the fundamental ideas that made it so (looking at you American Prison System and Cops); often times these things do SO much more harm than not.

However, there are some things that - while its important to acknowledge and hold some caution and distrust to due to their role in systemic oppression, racism and colonialism - help and save lives and are currently the only thing filling the niche. We are talking science, research, medicine, education, mental health, etc.

They are tools and mechanisms deeply impacted and play a role in systemic oppression, racism and colonialism; however one can call for change, awareness, and insight to help it grow away from it's designated roles without turning away from it as a whole.

The medical system is full of systemic oppression, discrimination, racism, and colonialism; but you still do need medical help, everyone does. The medical system can suck, but still be respected in the regard where it fills a necessary niche.

The relevant thing that came from this is that I stand on the ground that the Theory of Structural Dissociation is inherently colonialist in nature HOWEVER I still deeply acknowledge and appreciate the help and perspective it brings to understanding and approaching DID in a clinical perspective. I think that ToSD should STILL be used and referenced WITH the insight, awareness, and critical thinking that takes into regard the colonialist assumptions the entire theory is based on.

Again, something can be problematic in nature and be a part of the overall machine that supposed systemic oppression AND still be important and necessary to use for the time being as it fills a niche that is not really filled by another.

[in-sightpublishing]

Canada's Failing Justice System, Survivor Advocacy

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/06/07 Cait Alexander, a Canadian-American survivor advocate and founder of End Violence Everywhere (EVE), channels her experience surviving near-fatal intimate partner violence into national advocacy. After her case was dismissed due to court delays, she launched EVE to…