This doesn’t help and I say this in what kindness I have less. If you aren’t gonna confront folks specifically
This is the same cruelty you claim to be deriding because you actually have no idea why folks have that cynicism
Because a lot of it is hurt and YEARS of being ignored
Being ignored and talked over. Being called hysterical. Being excluded from just about every relevant conversation that *could* have avoided this outcome.
And it's hard to be kind about this when their reaction *should* be "Oh, shit, you knew back then? So, what do you know now that I'm ignoring?"
Maybe I'm cynical & will owe up to that...
But when I hear they are "surprised"
It's surprising it's happening to them.
It wasn't a concern when it was folks they deem deserving of mistreatment.
Every group (and we know this happens on multiple axes, in multiple ways) that has gotten appropriately hot about fascism for the last decade has been served some version of "pipe down and let the grownups talk." This is where that got us, so anyone judging people hardened by dismissal can go screw.