Over at Slate, Jessie-Lane Metz discusses her article for The Toast, “Ally-phobia: On the Trayvon Martin Ruling, White Feminism, and the Worst of Best Intentions“:

Is it better to offend someone in the course of discussing something than not have the conversation?

I do think that if in your social justice work, you continue to hurt those whose oppression you are seeking to address, it may be time to step back and listen.

Real talk. People fuck up all of the time. I fuck up all of the time in my own work on being an ally. Nobody knows everything already. When I fuck up, I certainly don’t ask myself if it was better to offend someone than to not have that conversation at all. I listen. I ask myself, how can I do better so that the next time I have a conversation I don’t hurt anyone. Or how I can educate myself through those who are actively engaging in teaching, so that others don’t have to have that conversation with me at all. And I inevitably will fuck up again. But I keep on working on it. I’m committed to it.

Well, now that we’re here, how does Metz’s response to her critics change your views on the piece, if at all?