One of the most influential rap songs of all time (Ether) contained a homophobic slur. The rapper (Nas) took a lot of criticism for this decades later. So he now performs the song without the slur, and re-released the track without it.👍🏿

Lizzo released a track with an ableist slur. She took heat for this on Twitter too. She apologized, and re-cut the song without the slur.👍🏿

Conversations about what a person said, are valid.

You don't get "cancelled" for mis-speaking. It's the doubling down.

I really don't care if QTs happen on this site, or don't happen. What's much more informative and important to me, is how this conversation is unfolding, and what is prioritized. I've heard everything from "The Black perspective isn't real" to "You Twitter refugees!" from folks with account create dates in November, talking to Black folk here since 2017🤷🏿‍♂️

People are talking about QTs the same way they talk about 4chan and Kiwi farms. I don't know how to explain to people how ridiculous that is.

There are valid reasons to have QTs and to not have them. Safety is a valid concern. But this prioritization of fake civility, is not good at all. This ignoring the Black perspective, is also no good.

There are folks more upset at @QasimRashid for sharing how migrants were harmed and put in real danger on Christmas Eve, than they are upset at Abbott for doing the harming. In some folks' eyes, the bigger misstep is Qasim harshing the Christmas vibes. I don't know how to explain that this is bad.

@QasimRashid I've told folks for years, that I'm not that concerned about the Nazis, because they're not the problem. Don't focus on the Nazis. Focus on the white folk that you have around you when the Nazis show up.

So consider this permission to unfollow. It's cool! Honestly. I don't judge anyone for wanting to ignore all the pain in the world, and not wanting to do anything about it. I post about racism, transphobia, and sexism, and more specifically, actions we can take to reduce them.

@QasimRashid There are literally hundreds of millions of white folk that do want to hear about ways we can reduce all of those bad things. I work with them. We don't need everyone on every issue. It's cool.

But don't aask me "What do you mean Mastodon is not welcoming to Black folk?" And then in the very next breath, say, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure Black folk are mistreated, but I don't want to hear about it! CW that garbage! It's making me sad!" Just be real, and only say the second part.

"Racism is so bad?! I didn't know!" Is a cop out. It's a crime in two parts. The first part is intentional actions that people take to make sure that they don't know how bad the racism is.

Sometimes it's in 3 parts. Party A makes sure that Party B doesn't know how bad the racism is. Then party B can happily enjoy life while party C is brutalized. That's the whole CRT debate, and the Texas board of education in a nutshell.

Willfull ignorance is not the same as innocence.

@QasimRashid @mekkaokereke I’ve now started calling it “strategic ignorance” because that’s how it manifests…it’s not just an unwillingness to learn, it’s using ignorance as a strategy to avoid consequences; accountability for harmful behavior