I don’t like when people describe themselves as “recovering” from bigotry. “Recovering from the alt-right pipeline”, “recovering misogynist”, “recovering racist”. As if those are sicknesses and diseases that you couldn’t help, and not some horrible form of bigotry that you in turn used to make other people feel less than human.
Half the time they’re not even “recovered” as they so claim, they’ve just realized that being an out-and-proud asshole squanders most opportunities for good jobs and relationships. Genuine de-programming takes years of intentional work and dedication; you don’t suddenly stop being a racist because you have a Black girlfriend, and you don’t suddenly stop being a Nazi because you lasered off the swastika tattoo.
