We all know the concern trolls who are "raising some concerns" when talking about protections for marginalized folks, and who already know that they're not problems, they're just trying to sow discord.

But another, more insidious form of this are the people - usually centrists or liberals - who legitimately believe that they are raising legitimate concerns, and are doing so in a harmful manner.

There's an obvious form of privilege here; those raising the concerns are typically not part of the affected group, and so unlike the affected group, they can afford to treat it like some hypothetical thought experiment, whereas the affected marginalized folks are living the consequences right here and now.

But that's not what I want to talk about. Because it goes much deeper than that.

For example, these "concerns" are usually the absolute most obvious things that you could think of - and somehow, the concern-raisers believe that they are specially qualified to have such a novel insight.

They don't stop to consider that maybe this concern was already raised hundreds of times before, and relitigated over and over again, and found to not be (sufficiently) relevant. They don't really take the time to research it - instead just assuming that they're the first.

That's privilege.

This usually combines with another problematic factor; when the concerns are raised, a response like "yeah we've thought of that" isn't considered enough. Instead, the concern-raiser will not stop pushing until *they, personally* are satisfied that it's addressed.

They are not merely raising a concern to help; they are considering themselves to be the arbiter of truth, as if their approval is required to go ahead with the plan. They are assuming authority.

That's privilege.

Those in the best position to understand the circumstances and needs of marginalized folks, are those marginalized folks themselves. Approval by the privileged is not required.

Listen to marginalized people. Yes, even if you have "concerns".