Thread by @IjeomaOluo, Hey, I know it's late for a thread, but I have been [...]

Hey, I know it's late for a thread, but I have been thinking about all of the calls for white people to "talk to their Trump-supporting friends and neighbors."

Here's the thing about that:

I don't give a a fuck about Trump supporters. Not right now.

Yes, they are white supremacists (don't @ me, @ reality). Yes, we must be concerned about the way in which Trump's rhetoric can fan the flames of racist violence. Yes, we must intervene when BIPOC are attacked. Yes, we must continue to strive to make open racism unnacceptable.

But white supremacy was not invented by Trump supporters. It is a vast and violent system that touches every part of our society and every person with power in these systems is complicit.

If everybody turned against Trump today, white supremacy would not be diminished by it.

That's not to say that we don't need to vote the fucker out - we do. But he is able to do what he does because of the white supremacist system that has been in place since before this stolen land was called America.

So, in this vast and powerful system of white supremacy, who has power? First and foremost, wealthy cis white men. But down the ladder we see lesser amounts of power, but real power, throughout all of white America.

So within white America we have a majority of people who say that they think racism is bad.

When we take out the people who are lying, I would say we still have a large percentage (I'm not generous enough to say a majority) of white Americans who really believe racism is bad

And within that we have a sizeable number who truly believe that change is needed.

So with this large bloc of people with sizeable power within white supremacy - we tell them that their time is best spent .....arguing with Trump supporters?

It is 2020. The system of violent white supremacy in this country has existed for over 500 years.

The evidence of the harm that white supremacy does to people of all races has been made abundantly clear.

At this point, Trump supporters are like flat-earthers. They believe that shit for no other reason than THEY WANT TO.

I don't spend my time arguing with flat-earthers. You shouldn't either.

When you ask any Black activist who works in our systems every day trying to save Black lives what they would like to see white America do, the answer is not "argue with your racist uncle on facebook."

We are trying to do our work in SYSTEMS. We got prosecutors who need to be voted out of office, we have schools in our neighborhoods in need of funding, we've got bail programs to deconstruct, we've got school policies that need reform, we've got healthcare programs to fix.

And you, who could vote on prosecutors, who could be talking about equitable hiring practices in work meetings, who could be funding and supporting organizers working for structural change - you are still arguing with your racist ass uncle?

Since when was he so important?

The idea that if we can just change that one racist heart and mind we could change the world is an idea steeped in white supremacy.

I am not here to build a kinder, better white person. That is not what we are struggling for.

This is not an eat, pray, love journey.

Find the BIPOC doing the work in your own community and support that work. Listen to what they have stated they need to do their job and get them that shit.

We should not be debating whether or not Black lives matter in 2020. That's fucking insulting.

We should be debating the best ways to tear down this murderous police-state.

We should be debating the best way to get racist prosecutors out of office.

We should be way past the "is this a problem" part of the discussion and way into the "what is the best way to burn this shit down" discussion.

Every day that we wait, more of us are lost.

And we are worth more than your racist uncle.

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