Many argue that there are more slaves in the world today than in the 19th century. Yet because one’s political rivals cannot be delegitimized by being on the wrong side of slavery, few care to be active abolitionists anymore, compared to being, say, speech police.
This reminds me how the topic of female genital mutilation was treated by people “on the right side of history” around me.
After learning that it exists, not knowing much about the details yet...
“This is another example of a horrible thing men do to women! We must protest against this, and demand severe punishment for all men involved. Everyone, join the revolution!”
...after learning that it is actually something that women do to little girls...
“Uhm, it is a horrible thing that needs to be stopped, but punishment is not the way to do it. We need more discussion and education about the topic. We should not blame the women doing it, because they are merely victims of their culture. We need to change the culture!”
...after people “on the wrong side of the history” agreed that, indeed, cultures that cut little girls’ genitals are horrible...
“Hey, white people are not allowed to judge other cultures negatively! Maybe they have perfectly valid cultural reasons for how they behave. Let’s accuse everyone who complains about female genital mutilation of intolerance and racism! And among ourselves, let’s not mention this topic anymore, lest we provide a useful argument for our enemies.”
So at the end no one actually cared about the mutilated girls, when they turned out to be useless as an argument against the local political opponents.
This reminds me how the topic of female genital mutilation was treated by people “on the right side of history” around me.
After learning that it exists, not knowing much about the details yet...
“This is another example of a horrible thing men do to women! We must protest against this, and demand severe punishment for all men involved. Everyone, join the revolution!”
...after learning that it is actually something that women do to little girls...
“Uhm, it is a horrible thing that needs to be stopped, but punishment is not the way to do it. We need more discussion and education about the topic. We should not blame the women doing it, because they are merely victims of their culture. We need to change the culture!”
...after people “on the wrong side of the history” agreed that, indeed, cultures that cut little girls’ genitals are horrible...
“Hey, white people are not allowed to judge other cultures negatively! Maybe they have perfectly valid cultural reasons for how they behave. Let’s accuse everyone who complains about female genital mutilation of intolerance and racism! And among ourselves, let’s not mention this topic anymore, lest we provide a useful argument for our enemies.”
So at the end no one actually cared about the mutilated girls, when they turned out to be useless as an argument against the local political opponents.