I know I said no more threads til Princess Diaries (that’s tonight btw), but I lied. I call this one Racism Rebuttals for Those Want to Learn. Read on:

“You don’t see racism anymore, so the media is exaggerating it.”

Mm. No. We see it everyday, we just don’t realize it. You only have to go back as far as the 1960’s to see that hatred has been passed down for decades. It didn’t just STOP when we quit allowing Whites Only signs.

Instead, the smart ones learned to be sneaky. They learned to make the law work in favor of their hatred. The ones who had the money and the pull helped build a system that fostered that hatred. They weaved it in, hid it in plain sight.

That’s the thing about racism now: it’s nuanced. The people defending it lack an understanding of it, which is ironic because it’s all ABOUT nuance now. It’s about using just the right phrases and gaslighting just the right amount, so intent can be skewed if you’re caught.

Anyway, next up: “I don’t have White Privilege. I’ve had to struggle all my life.”

Privilege is not about wealth. It’s about what life automatically gives you that the rest of us don’t get without aLOT of yelling. Representation in movies, for example.

Also being able to find hair care products and salons anywhere you shop, being able to name yourselves whatever you’d like without judgement, and people listening to your opinions without calling it “pandering” or “SJW bleeding heart liberal whatever the fuck.” But I digress.

“This Black person called me a honky! Racism!”

It is rude. It is not racism. Calling you a name based on your skin hurts your feelings, but it has no other repercussions.

It is not tied to oppression, rape, and murder. It wasn’t yelled at your father as he marched. It doesn’t mirror society’s belief that you are “less than” because of your color.Racism holds power, and pain. It influences laws and policies.

And you can quote Miriam Webster all you want, but the fact is the word has taken on a different definition in the vernacular. You need to accept that if you want to grow in the slightest.

This thing is getting long, so lastly: “What about the Irish? What about ___? Why do we only talk about Black people?”

So all slavery is terrible, but in the US the Irish were in indentured servitude. There is a difference.

In this country, the Irish escaped their bondage, and now no one is trying to still hold them at a certain level of control only slightly far removed from where they were 400 years ago. And trying to play down Black pain by introducing White atrocities is part of why we’re here.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve got today. I’m sure I could think of more if I wanted to. Maybe I will. But I also have kids and apparently they want food. Take it easy, people. See you later.