Summarizing The Revolution Will Not Be Polite: The Issue of Nice Versus Good

The text "The Revolution Will Not Be Polite: The Issue of Nice Versus Good" by Rachael is a blog post that talks about the definition of social justice, and what it means to live in a world where we can actually enjoy more justice and more equality. To do that, the writer starts by defining social justice, saying that it is, essentially, to wipe out "systematic marginalization and privilege". She argues that living in a socially just world is infinitely different than living in a world where everybody is nice to you, that "niceness" or "politeness" are just not the same as "goodness". This confusion between two very different terms is causing a problem for her cause because some people try to get away with being racist or misogynistic or homophobic just because they are "nice". The writer also sets out to define "privilege" which she believes has been misunderstood, and is at the root of thinking that social privilege is about being "nice". She defines a "privileged" group of people as one that is given certain advantages over others, while a "marginalized" group of people is one that has these advantages taken away. The writer moves on to emphasize the control that the dominant class gets over marginalized classes because manners tend to be defined by the former. This leads to oppressors creating an outline to the actions of the people they oppress and, through that, even being able to control any attempt to end the oppression. Towards the end of the post, the writer reinforces the fact that the idea of oppression is, simply, about every right or opportunity that you are denied because of your race, ethnicity, gender, etc... To conclude, the writer advocates a kind of social revolution against oppression, as she has defined it, and against our current mindset which promotes "nice" as opposed to "good".