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by jakeogh 2639 days ago
There will always be some junk quotes people can find (or make up!) to support their agenda.

I don't really care what FB does, I prefer it to have all the rope it needs, but this normalization of taking and modifying the meaning of terms to fit the anti-borders narrative is dishonest and manipulative. Again, it's not even remotely a new thing, the anti-borders crowd has been gunning against nationalism time eternal.

1 comments

"Loving your country" is not "white nationalism." You're the one trying to redefine terms if you believe it is.
It's an inherently dishonest frame. I cant imagine running around talking about "(insert color) nationalists" when actually referring to people promoting segregation of citizens.
“White nationalism” has been synonymous with segregation and genocide essentially since the inception of the term. I guess if you care really hard about that particular phrase this is a tragedy. But there are ample other, less fraught ways to express that you’re an American patriot. Bemoaning that you can’t say “white nationalist” to mean that seems a strange (or disingenuous) stance to take.
I called the phrase inherently dishonest... and somehow that indicates I wanted to use it for some other context? Like I had positive use for it?

Your comment suggests you have internalized the idea that nationalist and racist are the same thing. Or were you really thinking I wanted to use "white nationalist" (or any color) in some other context?

Isn't the phrase intentionally self selected by these groups? Then what makes it dishonest to use it to refer to their beliefs?
So totally ignore what "inherently dishonest frame" means, and attempt to change the subject. Fine.

Lets take your question as true for the sake of discussion. Do you take your language cues from these people? I don't. I don't see why you would let people you strongly disagree with decide what language to use. Are you concerned you might offend them by not using their preferred terms?

Might you be opening yourself up to some rather trivial social engineering opportunities?

Anyway... def don't talk about frames.

“White nationalism” is an inherently racist concept. Not all nationalism is though. You seem confused that adding the word “white” to nationalism makes the whole phrase mean something else entirely. Maybe consider the context of who uses that phrase now and how it’s been used historically to understand why that particular construction is broadly (and correctly) considered racist and genocidal. Or why other uses of nationalism with other nationalities or colors aren’t.
First you assumed I was "Bemoaning that you can’t say “white nationalist”" and now you are assuming I am confused and don't know what the colloquial use of the term is.

What do you think "it's an inherently dishonest frame" means?

Frames are important, it's why I asked why you thought I was bemoaning the loss of a phrase when I was really describing how the phrase itself is dishonest.