Many are aware of my now infamous M&M’s analogy. After I made that post it was turned into a graphic and used without any of the context I put in the original post.

I will admit that graphic has caused me a lot of trouble. Mainly because its intention is extremely misunderstood. I can’t tell you how many times I have been called a moron.

I’m pretty sure I’m not a moron–even if people disagree with me. Though I’m not really bothered by what people think of my intelligence.

I guess the part that bothers me is that they see my analogy as a suggestion rather than an explanation.

History will show that those who were oppressed and marginalized often would employ general distrust as a survival strategy. In situations where they could not easily identify who their oppressors were, they would assume everyone was an oppressor until they knew otherwise. This was merely a tactic to keep them safe.

I was not judging this tactic morally. I was not encouraging anyone to use it. I was merely explaining why some people feel it necessary to bolster their safety in that manner.

I still stand by what I said. If a marginalized person is fearful of a systematic oppression that seems determined to harm or even kill them… I do not fault them for distrusting people as a precaution. For instance, if people of color were to be distrustful of all police officers after recent events, I would not discourage this. I think that is their right to do what they think is best to stay safe and alive.

If you think I am in error and a moron for feeling this way, so be it. But it would be nice if you actually understood the intention of my statement before making that judgment of me.