(Reposting as my own thread because as someone said, "my rants do not belong to somebody else's threads." Good piece of advice, so here I am.)

Recently I stumbled upon white folks complaining about Black people who post with "white people please do not reply", and calling it reverse racism or "discrimination both ways" (if you're reading this please don't take it personally, I just had to repost; also, trust me on this, you don't want to be in the replies here).

So to all white people who feel identified or attacked because of this: Get ready for a long lesson on white obliviousness and casual racism. We all can learn from this and become better persons.

One important thing to notice is that Black people in here are frequently harassed or reply-spammed by racist or clueless white people. One can call themselves not racist and yet engage in casual racist behavior.

That call for "white people do not reply" is a plea to stop shouting and to listen and pay attention.

Some white people in here may have good intentions when replying to BIPOC folks, but when mixed with an ignorance of the situation, it only revictimizes the oppressed.

Since was made aware of the casual racism on here, I've decided to start following more Black folks, and trust me on this, the amount of vitriol and harassment they get is unbelievable. 😰

A white person who has never been harassed online will have a hard time understanding; not just nazis harassing and attacking, but mix that with the failure of mods to act in time, white guys (most of the time it's men for some reason) replying with minor but somehow very important corrections, tone policing, CW policing [1], and mansplaining ("did you know there's something called a block button?") that make it IMPOSSIBLE for a Black person to simply post a small venting comment about all the racism in here without getting piled on by a horde of white reply-guys.

Currently there is a very productive discussion going on, and the most valuable input I've seen is by Black folks; white people who keep replying only make things worse by adding noise and invalidating BIPOC people's experiences.

In fact, I would add: If you see a "white people do not reply" post, that is a post that you need to read and pay attention to, not mute. Reread the replies by BIPOC folks, listen to their experiences and let yourself empathize and live what they've lived if only by using your imagination.

Again, nothing personal against you folks, but there is a lot of ingrained racism in our culture, mixed with misunderstandings and obliviousness that we need to get rid of.

It's not just about race; it's about a system of injustice that keeps preventing BIPOC people from having access to fair opportunities.

White people here (and I'll include myself because I'm considered light-skinned where I live, and come from a racially privileged home) have very little idea not just about racist slurs being thrown around, but about racism in the workplace, in government institutions, in school, in employment opportunities, in rent prices, it's a systemic problem. Racism and classism are often intertwined, and Black folks have to bear the worst of it all.

Without taking all of those factors into account, a seemingly innocent comment such as "anyone can set up their own Mastodon server" (which I saw the other day) is revealed as completely ignorant of Black people's struggles. White people who live in their parents' homes 🏡👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 (and not rented, but actually paid in full) will never, EVER understand how hard it is for Black folks to not only set up their own server, but spending valuable time of their lives moderating - starting with not having money saved even for medical emergencies because everything goes down the rent-drain. 💸

(So let's correct that statement, shall we? "Any single white man living in their own house with a college education, a well-paid job and little debt can easily set up their own mastodon server." That's MUCH better, don't you think?)

Racism is a system of oppression, and sadly Mastodon is filled with white people who come from a very sheltered, privileged background. I had to lose my own home and savings to realize most of white people have ZERO clue about poverty, much less discrimination, redlining, racist policies, etc.

We need to recognize the fact that Mastodon is a majorly-white space that reacts swiftly and brutally against Black people when they even suggest that someone in here MIGHT be racist. The CW thing is seen as a foreign, white fragility thing by Black people, who often have to live the worst of racism in real life every single day of their lives and they don't get the luxury of being content-warned about that.

Yes, Black folks come here with another culture, with other values and see any CW-related content as yet another attempt by whites to shut them up and "tell them to know their place". Just to mention an example.

In short:

BIPOC people need to get listened to.
BIPOC people need not to be attacked online or offline.
BIPOC people need more representation in here.
BIPOC people need not to be perfect examples of patient, peaceful martyrdom to get a voice on how things need to change.

And on the other side:

White people need to shut up and listen for once
White people need to learn to respect boundaries
White people need to put themselves in others' shoes.

That is how we'll get to an understanding.

Thank you.

Footnotes

[1] Reminder that CWs were instituted here for, not against marginalized communities - so Black folks can post about racism without CWs and white people who feel uncomfortable about that should reflect on how pampered they've been.

#racism #Meta #onHere