If someone is stepping on my face it doesn't much matter to me if they're doing it on purpose or if they just don't realize I'm there -- the goal is to make them stop stepping on my face.
What you're describing is a very privileged perspective that doesn't really map cleanly to many peoples' lived experience. It's not the case that I need to check whether the person stepping on my face really means to hurt me or not -- it may be the case that I need to object to the entire system that makes it easy for others to step on my face.
Of COURSE the face-steppers would rush to assure me that nobody means me any harm, it's just how the world works, etc.
What you're describing is a very privileged perspective that doesn't really map cleanly to many peoples' lived experience. It's not the case that I need to check whether the person stepping on my face really means to hurt me or not -- it may be the case that I need to object to the entire system that makes it easy for others to step on my face.
Of COURSE the face-steppers would rush to assure me that nobody means me any harm, it's just how the world works, etc.
Why on earth would that matter to me?