Privilege in action

I'm so angry right now, because fantasy author Jim C. Hines wrote this open letter to the Boy Scouts of America. I guess Jim thinks he's showing how he's trying to do the right thing, but what he does is reveal how privileged he is, and how he compartmentalizes the damage done by the BSA to let his kid join the group. Jim admits it's a hate group. He knows they exclude others and make them feel bad.

BUT, his kid wants to join, so now it's okay. He could make the right choice and tell his kid no. He could teach his kid about peer-pressure, and why not all groups are cool. But instead, in addressing me, Jim claims there is no right choice, and this is all just so morally difficult for him to sort out. And in the comments, he's got plenty of kudos from other privileged parents whose kids also won't be discriminated against. And because they're okay, the BSA is okay.

I don't know Jim or his kid. I don't know what kind of parent Jim is. But in one blog post, Jim has me wishing I could stage an intervention and pull his kid out of the scouts. It is NOT allright for your kids to join a hate group just because they think it's fun. It is NOT acceptable to pay a hate group and then to offer to pay a gay group "for balance." It is VERY insulting to all the victims of the BSA's exclusive policies.

But Jim has privilege, and here he's exercising it. Yes, he knows what the BSA stands for. Yes, he knows as a parent, he should tell his kids why the BSA is evil. But he won't, because keeping his child ignorant is easier. Letting his kid play in a hate group is easier than educating him. That's privilege, the choice to ignore the harm your decisions cause. Then Jim compounds insult to injury with the offer of a bribe.

I don't know Jim. I shouldn't be this upset. But tonight, I'm schizzing because a writer decided to show off his privilege in an open letter that he must have thought was saying a good thing. Instead, it's possibly the most cowardly thing I've read in a while.

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