BLM: As Seen By The Conservative Amygdala

Something happened yesterday that illustrates the attitude of white conservative men. Something frightens and angers them to the core. Their fear and anger clouds their vision of anyone not sharing their system of beliefs.

A news item from yesterday illustrates the issue at play in our discussion of Black Lives Matter. 

Before we get to the news report, let's review our ongoing discussion of Black Lives Matter, a group founded by Black women.

Conservative white men seem particularly threatened by progressive women, especially those of color. I can’t imagine why, apart from it having something to do with the over-reactive amygdala of the authoritarian personality. MRI Brain scans have shown an enlarged amygdala in self-described conservatives. The primitive “fight-or-flight” mechanism is more readily triggered in them when confronted by something new, unfamiliar and different.

This usually results in conservative white men believing only the worst in others. “BLM are looters and racist commies bent on destroying America, and Black lives mean nothing to them”, for example. Do I exaggerate?

Our friend Darrell asserts:

“But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division...Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives.  They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week...The bottom line is that this not about black lives mattering.  It is about furthering a Marxist, godless agenda... Thuggish people...espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism.”

See what I mean about their need to show BLM in the worst possible light? We expect this reaction from conservative white racists, not from an informed and objective viewpoint.

And we’re still waiting for what constitutes “actual racism” or “real racism”. All we know is only white conservative men have authority to define the terms.

The fact is there is NOTHING about a “Marxist, godless agenda” among the beliefs shared at the BLM website. Darrell was misinformed and misreported this falsehood.

People involved with BLM have a range of political opinions. It is not a commie cult, nor an armed terrorist militia of roving Black gangsters. In case he hasn’t noticed, BLM has been protesting racism and police brutality, not gathering a rabble of armed Stalinist insurrectionists. But this is what frightened white conservatives CHOOSE to see.

We understand conservative men have a deep suspicion and mistrust of the LGBTQ community as well. They're different, and should know their place and not demand to be treated as equals. This reaction to the unfamiliar is typical of the conservative mindset. 

Nowhere does BLM show intent to “destroy” capitalism and “disrupt” the nuclear family. 

(It was the “Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement”.)

“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”

But their amygdala’s reaction to advocacy for single mothers and LGBTQ people is the same as when confronted by most other unfamiliar ideas, different people, and traditions other than white American conservatism. They feel threatened. Remember when gay marriage was going to destroy the American family?

And what on God’s green Earth scares them more than progressive women of color? To the white conservative world view, the lives and experiences of these women are as unfamiliar and different to them as nomads in yurts. 

Their very existence is seen as mortal threat to these powerful white men. We understand equality has always been viewed as a threat to the power of an established and privileged class. This is exactly what is driving the White Right’s war on voter rights, voter registration, and poll access for minority communities.

I’m sure Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) is a good conservative Republican Catholic. He probably shares the same values, and views the world through the same lens, as our conservative Catholic friend Darrell.

Here is what happened yesterday:

The Hill Reports:

Ocasio-Cortez accosted by GOP lawmaker over remarks

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) was coming down the steps on the east side of the Capitol on Monday, having just voted, when he approached Ocasio-Cortez, who was ascending into the building to cast a vote of her own.

In a brief but heated exchange, which was overheard by a reporter, Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez she was "disgusting" for recently suggesting that poverty and unemployment are driving a spike in crime in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.

"You are out of your freaking mind," Yoho told her.

Ocasio-Cortez shot back, telling Yoho he was being "rude."

The two then parted ways. Ocasio-Cortez headed into the building, while Yoho, joined by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), began descending toward the House office buildings. A few steps down, Yoho offered a parting thought to no one in particular.

"Fucking bitch," he said.

“Rude” is a generous term for that display of white conservative anger and hate.

She tweeted her reaction:

“I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday. Believe it or not, I usually get along fine w/ my GOP colleagues. We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door. But hey, “b*tches” get stuff done.”

AOC shows class and empathy that few conservative white men are able to demonstrate. 

This must enrage and scare the hell out of them even more.

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Update: July 22, 2020

After denying what he said to AOC, the hateful Republican "apologized" while never mentioning her name. Instead he said, “I cannot apologize for my passion..or for loving my God, my family and my country.”

These racist Republican bastards are no different than Nazis. They hate the very same people Hitler hated.