Read on Twitter
I’ve taken a break from twitter - possibly I will continue it. Upon my return I responded to some DMs two of which led to discussions of man-splaining.
Some thoughts on this and being a Black woman on political twitter:
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Some thoughts on this and being a Black woman on political twitter:
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On twitter I spend a lot of time reading and writing at the intersection of race and politics.
A very obvious phenomenon is how confident a clear majority of white right wingers are in their theories of race issues in US politics:
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A very obvious phenomenon is how confident a clear majority of white right wingers are in their theories of race issues in US politics:
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1. Black people are victims of “the welfare state” - welfare has made Black people dependent and unwilling to work. They tie this to the absence of men in families. Their analysis completely disregards the simultaneous criminalization of Blackness 2/
And the growth of incarceration of Black men. It also disregards the simultaneous creation of impoverished “ghettos” for so many Black people in cities and the impoverishment of public education in those “ghettos”, the decline of housing value, the intensity of policing, etc.
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They disregard the GLOBAL history of unemployment/crime/poverty in similar set-ups without regard to race, ethnicity, or whether welfare was provided.
They have a theory based on one data point and in their ignorance they have absolute confidence in their theory. 4/
They have a theory based on one data point and in their ignorance they have absolute confidence in their theory. 4/
2. Their theory extends to the “Democrat plantation” comments - Black people vote for Democrats because we are “enslaved” by welfare and do not “think for ourselves”.
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So, as a Black woman, I see white people with great unfounded confidence declaring “facts” about the Black experience and Black motives. 6/
Then, on the left, the raging battle over universal programs vs means tested programs and whether 1. The latter always fail (they don’t) and 2. Whether the former address institutional racism (they don’t). 7/
Again, primarily white men making very confident but incorrect assertions about an area they gave little knowledge of.
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Then, twitter commentary on the political coverage of Black women candidates - again, tons of white men (including in the political coverage itself) making confident declarations of what is or is not due to or related to racism. 9/
No grasp that “but this thing is true” is not a counter to racist patterns that Black people have A lifetime of experience identifying and that white people may have missed altogether. 10/
There may be a term for this - but an example with my -much loved and sorry to use her this way - daughter. The pattern is 1. she speaks about whatever she wants when she wants and it’s annoying if I don’t pay attention.
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2. If I say anything ever other than express rapturous interest in her utterances, it’s annoying.
As a person negatively affected by the pattern, I really notice it. As a person positively affected by the pattern, she does not.
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As a person negatively affected by the pattern, I really notice it. As a person positively affected by the pattern, she does not.
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If I mention the pattern to her, it’s false, because *every individual instance* of me being annoying for speaking has a *reason*. (I pause too much; she was really listening to that song; I said that before). 13/
So to her, the pattern does not represent a general issue but many many individual separate events.
This is what I find even with the most well-meaning white men:
Black woman: this again
White man: but in this instance...14/
This is what I find even with the most well-meaning white men:
Black woman: this again
White man: but in this instance...14/
Then we see in non-political phenomena all the time:
Woman: “reproductive issue“
Women: “yeah”
White layman: “But actually”
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Woman: “reproductive issue“
Women: “yeah”
White layman: “But actually”
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And I have to say that while I *occasionally* have these experiences with white women (on race) it’s mostly with white men.
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A couple conclusions:
1. Twitter really highlights this sort of exchange and results in some short tempers for Black women discussing these topics.
2. Diversity of voices in political reporting is *really* important because being a hegemonist can lead to big blind spots 17/
1. Twitter really highlights this sort of exchange and results in some short tempers for Black women discussing these topics.
2. Diversity of voices in political reporting is *really* important because being a hegemonist can lead to big blind spots 17/
3. My daughter’s a teenager. I get it.
4. Our culture and history encourages Dunning-Kruger type thinking in white men.
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4. Our culture and history encourages Dunning-Kruger type thinking in white men.
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Not only Ben Shapiro types, but many many white men will chant “facts and logic” while making irrational assertions based on selective facts, because the culture tells them that their selection of facts IS “THE FACTS” and that their interpretation IS “THE LOGIC” 19/
Finally - twitter is exhausting.
This is the term: can’t see the forest for the trees.
