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How would you reply?

Started by xSilverPhinx, November 16, 2018, 08:29:05 PM

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xSilverPhinx

I need help from the wise. :P

My mother teaches English to this group of older women, and this morning she got a message from one of them in their group chat which was basically a bunch of homophobic prejudices, slurs and preconceived notions on what gay people do such as, "Faggots want to fuck each other in classrooms" and "Dykes want to piss on the flag in front of public buildings".

:wtf: you say? 

WTF is right. That's what she got.

It was a pro-Bolsonaro message. Remember him? The fascist creep who just got elected president of Brazil?

My mother doesn't want to let this pass without some sort of rebuttal but at the same time lose this woman as a student (hard times, and any lost income will make her life more difficult). She wants to tread lightly on those bigoted eggshells.

She asked me for help dealing with the situation, I suggested she talk to this woman in private, not in the group chat where she might feel compelled to defend herself in front of the others.

How would you reply?
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


No one

Maybe suggest that the old bat doesn't fully grasp English, and ask if she needs any remidal education.

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: No one on November 16, 2018, 08:44:36 PM
Maybe suggest that the old bat doesn't fully grasp English, and ask if she needs any remidal education.

I would still have some hope for humanity if that was the case, but the text was in Portuguese, so she understood it all. What I don't think she understood was that gays are humans too (*GASP*) and that text was not only hostile, but hurtful to anyone who is gay or has gay friends and family.

I think the woman is totally oblivious to that fact.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


No one

Stupidity is typically hand in hand with obliviousness.

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: No one on November 16, 2018, 08:51:48 PM
Stupidity is typically hand in hand with obliviousness.

That's true.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


No one

Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done against blind hatred. Not to excuse them, but the older generations were never much on acceptance. They were not raised with open minds. Our only hope, is that our good friends The Interwebs and Instant Information can shine a discrediting light on these dark corners of human behavior.

Essie Mae

Was she deliberately trying to get a reaction? It sounds almost too extreme to be true. Was she trying goad your mum into revealing her 'filthy liberal values'? It would be easy to deal with it in this country; the rest of the class would turn on her before the teacher had a chance to do anything. In your country however, with all the difficulties good people face I could understand your mum glossing over it and moving on while seething inside.
Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Wm Shakespeare


xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Essie Mae on November 16, 2018, 09:14:22 PM
Was she deliberately trying to get a reaction? It sounds almost too extreme to be true. Was she trying goad your mum into revealing her 'filthy liberal values'? It would be easy to deal with it in this country; the rest of the class would turn on her before the teacher had a chance to do anything. In your country however, with all the difficulties good people face I could understand your mum glossing over it and moving on while seething inside.

I wish I knew what she was thinking but I really don't. It is extreme, but all sorts of intolerant people are voicing their once unpopular opinions now. Bolsonaro himself is no stranger to hate speech when it comes to minorities.

My mother sent me the screenshots:





Translation:

Don't worry, people!
Bolsonaro isn't a dictator, he's just upright and that is what scares [people].
Faggots will continue to be faggots (they just won't be able to have sex inside the classroom).
Thieves will continue to be thieves (only they will get arrested and stay in jail).
Transvestites will continue to be transvestites, (only they will turn tricks in nightclubs and not in a childrens' Art museum).
Potheads will continue to be potheads (only they won't be able to smoke on the streets or in schools).
Journalists will continue to be journalists (only without public funding).
Dykes will continue to be dykes, (only they won't stand naked on the street peeing on the Brazilian flag and the doorsteps of churches).
Corrupt politicians will continue to be corrupt, (only they won't have the law to protect them and [Sérgio] Moro will prosecute them) . Public money will fund productivity (not politicians).
Those who are paid to work will have to work (no more "façade jobs").
That scares [people]. Fear of ending "the Brazilian way", ending "Gerson's law". The world does not belong to the cunning, it belongs to the honest! RESPECT FOR THE CITIZEN HAS TO BE RESTORED!!!
I liked this, that's why I posted it!


::) ::) ::)
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Recusant

If your mother feels compelled to respond, something dignified like "I disagree with many of the things you've said, but I hope that we can focus on learning and continue to work together" may be best. If the raving bigot continues to bait her, then politely remind them that she's here to teach, not to get into political disputes.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Essie Mae

Don't think i'll Be visiting any time soon. I feel for you having to live with that.
Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Wm Shakespeare


xSilverPhinx

That's good Recusant! I would have opted for something a little more...scathing. It would have been counterproductive though. ::)

Gracias.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Essie Mae on November 16, 2018, 11:39:46 PM
Don't think i'll Be visiting any time soon. I feel for you having to live with that.

Yeah, what is this country coming to? This kind of thing will only become more common in the future I fear.  :(
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


jumbojak

I would say that that sort of language is inappropriate for a learning environment and that she, and anyone else who wished to engage in that sort of discussion, should go elsewhere if the subject is not learning the English language.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

Was the group chat set up to help the students with English? If so, then your mother could just ignore the content of the message and not comment on what's been said, but reply by reminding all the members of the purpose of the group and just say that the message does not contribute to the learning of English.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

xSilverPhinx

It seems the fire's been suffocated. The woman apologised and said she won't post any more messages with political content in the group.

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey