It's just a comic, but it's so true to life it makes me mad just thinking about it.

The true bigots won't be convinced for anything, but it's also ahistorical to call any attempt at optics being a "pick me." (I know these exact words weren't used in this comic. Read between the lines.)

Historically, groups have won the most rights when the majority comes to realize that they're "just regular people like them." Look at the gay rights movement. It hit its stride precisely when they stopped listening to the folks that said, "optics don't matter, we shouldn't care at all about appealing to straight people." The decision to focus on marriage rights was a deliberate one. Pushing for marriage was a sign to middle America that gay people were "normal" people that wanted to fit in with society and be left in peace. That push greatly improved attitudes among cis people about gay people. Gay rights succeeded precisely when we stopped listening to the most radical activists that optics didn't matter.

It's the same reason they chose to use Rosa Parks for the bus protest.

Donald Trump matters.
Traditional values matter.
The woke mind virus matters.

😐

Bad faith is bad.

That's what we are dealing with. ⅔ act in bad faith of our interests, and demand we keep them enriching themselves from our labor.
We live in a bad faith government.

I really don't know what you're on about here. I don't know if you're making an incredibly bad-faith summary of what I wrote, or if you just had a stroke and kicked into politics repeat mode.

I exemplified the optics politicians use to buy our faith.
The “regular people” opted their power and rights to the few. We are here, precisely because “regular” people do want to be radicalized by the rich.

Yeah. Sorry. I have no idea what you're trying to do here. Try to actually respond to people's posts and comments.

Further explaining the optics of politics?
How much theory & history do you read?

None of what you wrote addresses anything about what I wrote. I pointed out that historically we absolutely have had to care about optics and appealing to the mainstream. You just responded, "well, there's tons of shitty stuff the mainstream likes."

Who gives a fuck? We're talking about strategies to get rights and what's worked historically. Bitching about the bad takes of the mainstream didn't win gay rights. Appealing to the interests of the mainstream did.

And "read theory" is thought-terminating cliche at this point.

Rights that we gave ourselves, or pleaded to a mainstream? Why are we appealing to a mainstream that mainstreams our genocide?

You can't give rights to yourself. You only have rights if society recognizes those rights. That's why we appeal to the mainstream. The Civil Rights movement didn't break the back of Jim Crow by saying, "we should only focus inward on celebrating black voices and culture. Why bother appealing to the white mainstream? They're the ones that are mistreating us!"

Society right now, recognizes that rights are only for the rich, not you and I. Appealing to the rich is what you're asking us to continue.
In talking about back breaks, why do the rich continue to break ours?

And yet, if our ancestors had had your attitude, none of the civil rights victories of the last century would have happened. It's self-defeating.

Gay marriage was only won a little over a decade ago. That was not in any way a belief that only the rich deserve rights.

Put away the Marxist crack pipe. I'm pretty leftist myself, but leftists often get way too myopically focused on just economic issues.

My ancestors answered our genocide in the only language the mainstream speak.





Appealing to your oppression is why you're oppressed.

A protest is nothing but an appeal to the majority, you silly goose!

And self-defense a perpetual conversation with oppression.

I’m trying to comprehend what radical activism you want the mainstream to unlisten.

Optics always matter.

Only the visible get seen, only the vocal get listened to.

Anyone who says otherwise has never interacted with normal people.

I don't see how a single thing in this comic is "just focusing on optics." Not allowing children to transition? Staying invisible? Not talking about how JKR is a monster working to strip bodily autonomy away from all women in addition to genociding trans people? Not demanding equal rights?! A vague reference to trying to appeal relatable and normal does not specify what exactly we need to do better. What exactly is the problem with this comic?

Besides, the even more ignored facet of civil rights movements is how even less optics focused pushes played a necessary part in strengthening the causes of those being "respectable." Listen to the reasonable one or face the wrath of those pushed to desperation. It's not like Ghandi succeeded because of nonviolence alone; the violent response to his imprisonment was far more popular and effective because he wasn't listened to. Similarly, fear of a violent backlash was part of getting the Civil Rights Act passed, as demonstrated by the anti-rioting laws passed in the same breath. The same goes to those who threw bricks at cops when they stormed their bar, or those who rudely harassed lawmakers alongside the respectable push for gay marriage.

And throughout all of those movements compromising on rights never helped us earn them. When Stacy Abrams agreed to a law that implemented voter ID in an effort to get some federal voting reform pass, not only did it not go anywhere, but now she is on record as having agreed to it. Every time a Democrat says we shouldn't play sports, the right only gets more rabid in demonizing us. In today's political climate, the right capitalizes on every compromise, uses every capitulation as an excuse to weaken your position. It's quite literally better to lose a fight you were never gonna win with your dignity intact than to throw it away in desperation. If you are unwilling to accept this dynamic, you will never build a stong moment for anything.