4 months ago with 21175 notes
chuchi-adreeyin:
chill-fiction:
shasana:
sancophaleague:
Recently I was in the shopping mall and I happened to hear a conversation between some people discussing their dislike for this black girl’s hairstyle who had just previously walked by. One of them called the girl’s hairstyle “ghetto”, then followed up by saying “I hate when black girls put all them colors in their hair”. It led me to ask this question, what is ghetto really? Because I have seen similar hairstyles with Caucasian women never labeled as ghetto. The word “ghetto” has a negative stigma attached to it and it seems like ghetto has become synonymous for “Black People”.
What determines whether something is Ghetto or not? Why do some people consider one ghetto and not the other? Is being crafty with the supplies available to me ghetto? Is being creative while black unacceptable? Does the price of something determine whether you should consider it ghetto or not? Or maybe I’m wrong…. Please do share your thoughts….
@hated_logic
You’re exactly right. Just like when Black people improvise, it’s ghetto, but let a middle-to-upper class white person do it, it’s a lifehack, or being thrifty, or economical, or thinking out of the box, or brilliant, or whatever.
THANK YOU for calling out this double standard. People need to recognize and acknowledge this shit.
What makes it ghetto is the person. Honestly, in my school, there are girls who are extremely extremely to the point of no return ghetto, and they decide to get their hair in the colors of a pack of skittles. That makes everything even more ghetto. Now sometimes there is nothing wrong with black people getting crazy colors in their hair, but let’s be honest, most of the time, it looks better on white people. That’s not saying white people aren’t and can’t be ghetto, but when black girls get their hair dyed crazy colors, they act crazy. They act ghetto, because most of the black people I’m around like to be ghetto, but don’t like to be called ghetto. I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed, and I wanted to dye my hair a soft pink once, but I guess it all depends on who you are and what your personality is. I think it’s all based on personality. Honestly, even some white people shouldn’t get certain colors in their hair because it just down-right looks tacky, and black people sometimes use the word ghetto for tacky. It doesn’t matter WHAT skin color you are, tacky is tacky. Some people just happen to have ghetto tendencies. (Which is horrible.) Now along with hairstyles, and hair colors, it also depends on your make-up, if you have a crazy color in your hair, don’t go all out and put the same color make up on your skin to match your hair, that isn’t ghetto, that is TACKY. Like, the black girl with the green hair, personally, I don’t like the color but the make-up too is just over doing everything. What determines if something or someone is ghetto or not, to me, is that person’s personality, it has nothing to do with their style or their hair. it’s how they act. Black people OVER-USE the term ghetto, for tacky. I hear it everyday. 99% of the things the black kids say in my school is ghetto, it’s actually very tacky. But some people, black or white or whatever your nationality is, just don’t know the difference, or they do, they just choose not to acknowledge the difference. lack of knowledge. Ignorance even. But nobody can be labeled ghetto just by the colors of their hair, that’s pretty….stupid to me. I’ve been called ghetto for having blonde hair… and it worked for me. It actually looked cute, but people aren’t used to things that are out of their social-norm. So they criticize, and that’s the sad thing. Once again, lack of knowledge. Ignorance. And that, is my take on this. :)
…………..
“What makes it ghetto is the person. Honestly, in my school, there are girls who are extremely extremely to the point of no return ghetto, and they decide to get their hair in the colors of a pack of skittles. That makes everything even more ghetto.”
“Now sometimes there is nothing wrong with black people getting crazy colors in their hair, but let’s be honest, most of the time, it looks better on white people. That’s not saying white people aren’t and can’t be ghetto, but when black girls get their hair dyed crazy colors, they act crazy. They act ghetto, because most of the black people I’m around like to be ghetto, but don’t like to be called ghetto”
“Some people just happen to have ghetto tendencies. (Which is horrible.)”
“ I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed”
“ I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed”
“ I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed”
” I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed”
I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed I’m not trying to discriminate or sound racist because i am mixed
(via myspvceshipcoupe)
racism stfu wow
4 months ago with 21175 notes
brutifulmind:
shasana:
sancophaleague:
Recently I was in the shopping mall and I happened to hear a conversation between some people discussing their dislike for this black girl’s hairstyle who had just previously walked by. One of them called the girl’s hairstyle “ghetto”, then followed up by saying “I hate when black girls put all them colors in their hair”. It led me to ask this question, what is ghetto really? Because I have seen similar hairstyles with Caucasian women never labeled as ghetto. The word “ghetto” has a negative stigma attached to it and it seems like ghetto has become synonymous for “Black People”.
What determines whether something is Ghetto or not? Why do some people consider one ghetto and not the other? Is being crafty with the supplies available to me ghetto? Is being creative while black unacceptable? Does the price of something determine whether you should consider it ghetto or not? Or maybe I’m wrong…. Please do share your thoughts….
@hated_logic
You’re exactly right. Just like when Black people improvise, it’s ghetto, but let a middle-to-upper class white person do it, it’s a lifehack, or being thrifty, or economical, or thinking out of the box, or brilliant, or whatever.
I really wish black people would quit complaining about how white people have labeled them. You have done this to yourselves. Now before you flip shit on me, just read through this and know that I am not implying that all black people are the same, but those of you whom are educated and live ‘normal’ lives have become victims of your own enthicity: you guys get mad and all irritated when people refer to you as ghetto and whatnot, look at the stupid ‘gangster’ fucks that have created the stereotype you are grouped with. Be mad at your own color. Don’t get mad at us because we assume you are all deadbeat lazy people. And newsflash: these girls being compared in the above photos, the white girls that do their hair like that are like 14. Very rarely do you see grown Caucasian women with weird colors and weave in and if you do-you best believe we get shit for it too.Yet there are these black old ladies with hot pink highlights. What do you expect? GROW UP. You and you alone are to blame for the judgements and stereotypes. When are you all going to run out of shit to complain about?!
You think that me, a semi-atractive Caucasian female with lots of tattoos and piercings doesn’t get insulted and grouped with stereotypes and called names? You’re wrong, because i get thrown into the ‘trashy’ group of trailer inhabitants that are drunk and lazy when in fact I am a functioning member of society with a going on 3 year old career and only 21 years old. I’m the one that pays your welfare checks so shut the fuck up and get over it. If you like the way your hair is isn’t that all that matters? I think you all just want shit to complain about so people feel sorry for you because you’re the ‘minority’. Wrong again. Caucasian people are the minority of the world.
FUCKKKKKKK YOUUUUUU!
“Don’t get mad at us because we assume you are all deadbeat lazy people”
“You and you alone are to blame for the judgements and stereotypes.”
“I’m the one that pays your welfare checks so shut the fuck up and get over it”
What the fuck is wrong with white people and the disassociation they have with Black people being human beings?
What is wrong with them?
I just want to know.
articles racism
Afrikan Women - The Damages of Chemical Hair Straighteners
5 months ago with 116 notes
ubuntuliberation:
Scalp damage from chemical hair straightener burns (Image from African Health Magazine)
Results of the pioneer study which was published through the Oxford University Press and made available in the American Journal of Epidemiology (January 2012) involved the following of over 23,000 premenopausal women for incidents of uterine leiomyomata.
Amongst other criteria participants reported on was their age when first using hair straighteners, the type of formula applied and the frequency of burns they received. It is widely accepted that millions of Afrikan women who expose themselves to chemical straighteners may be absorbing potentially harmful chemicals like parabens and phthalates into their blood stream through scalp lesions and burns.
The study which proves correlation and asserts causality has faced strong opposition from those determined to continue the ‘relaxing’ process despite the negative effects of these chemicals which can also be absorbed through the skin.
This resistance which is believed to be symptomatic of sufferers of body dysmorphic syndromes is similar to the manner in which some users seek to normalise the practice of using carcinogenic skin whitening (bleaching) products to achieve an imagined but unsustainable cosmetic goal.
Tragically many younger women are initially opposed to using chemical hair products but often adjust this view after being introduced or culturally indoctrinated into the ‘relaxing’ process by their mothers and an older generation seeking to conform to a beauty aesthetic unnatural to themselves.
Child Abuse: Good Hair?
Toxic industrial compounds
Controversial ‘beauty’ aids designed to alter the natural features of their users often contain potentially harmful active ingredients like parabens and in particular phthalates, a toxic industrial compound widely used to soften and increase the flexibility of plastic and vinyl.
Yet whilst these chemicals can be absorbed into the skin, more damage is done with the use of chemicals hair straighteners due to the way they burn the scalp, exposing the body to their negative health effects.
Analysis of the data collected revealed that whilst the risk of fibroids was unrelated to the age at first use or the type of formula used, the systematic exposure to phthalates through scalp lesions significantly increased their risk of developing uterine leiomyomata. It also showed that those women who used the chemicals more than seven times during a year developed uterine fibroids more often.
Fibroids are tumors that grow in the uterus in women of childbearing age. Their growth is dependent on estrogen production. Research suggest they occur several (up to nine) times more often in African women than european women. Uterine fibroids are the single most common indication for hysterectomy. Up to half of women with fibroids have no symptoms until between the ages of 30 and 50 years depending on their size, position and condition.
SO…GO NATURAL! EMBRACE YOUR GOD GIVEN HAIR! Remember, in the age of information ignorance is a CHOICE.
Some insight by the ‘TOM’ himself - Uncle Ruckus (1:08-1:15)
http://youtu.be/0X6lqD5gZdg
* I am not advising anyone to do anything with your hair. If you’re natural or not or wear weaves that does NOT make you any less Black or any less embracing your Blackness.
Black Women Hair Hair Straighteners Racism Internal Racism Beauty Standards Fibroids Chemical Straighters Chemicals Go Natural
Black Beauty in the face of Eurocentric Beauty Standards aka White Beauty
6 months ago with 349 notes
There comes a time in a young Black person’s life where they look in the mirror and feel inadequate because they are not white. This message is thrown at Black and brown bodies everyday untill they pass away from this earth. We can pretend and try to use the colorblind theory [Here] and say we don’t see color. That would be a blatant lie, seeing color is what makes POC beautiful. There is nothing wrong with seeing the deepest shades of brown to the golden tones of coral across our skin. Color is beautiful and to deny the beauty in color is to deny someone’s cultural ties and heitage to it.
The amass amount of evidence that young Black people are being fed this standard can be show in several tests. The doll test you can watch how heart wrenching it really is right in one of our favorite places youtube [Here] . The issue of you colorism/shadeism. Yes this is very much everywhere, you can go into any beauty supply and find bountiful amounts of skin bleaching creams. Colorism stems from racism and internalized racism. The need for lighterskin and how it feels to be more accepted colors to white standards of beauty. Colorism/shadeism isn’t only in the Black community but trancesends almost into any other POC community. Here is a docmentary talking about this you can find SEVERAL on youtube. [Here is the start of part 1]
These views are reaffirmed through the use of media outlets, the “prefrences” in a white supermacist society, and through cultural heitage. This sort of beauty or need for beauty is standard in the professional world of America, and white academia world. In instances it’s in subcultures such as “alternative” ( which took it’s routes as body mods from Indiegnous cultures), rock/metal culture ( Black people started this………….), and even in HipHop. ( The ever booming of desire to date/objectify/show off light skin women and white women once they reach a certain point of stardom.)
I feel like i’m geting off track but being a beauty blog specifically for Afro lovelies this is something that is discussed a lot. When the production of foundations, concealers, lipsticks, blushes, and eyeshadows are made. We are not thought of as the demographic. It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to find shades that are darker than my skin tone on the shelves of your local CVS or riteaid. The only way you will find this is in area near POC communities. AND even in POC communties it’s STILL hard to find shades for darker skin. This means the need to represent us, the need to say to white communities ’ HEY POC ARE HERE WE LIKE MAKE UP HELLO’ is 0 to none. POC skin tones and make up become a marketing ploy and demographics. This reaffirms that Eurocentric Beauty standards aka white beauty is NORMAL ok.
You heard me being white is normal.
Now i know people are going to be like WELL STOP COMPLAINING AND MAKE YOUR OWN. And we have our own :
Imancosmetics
Blackopal
Black radiance
Black up
Covergirl Queencollection
Fashionfair
But having our own IS NOT ENOUGH.
These lines were made because THERE IS STILL A BIG NEED FOR OUR REPRESENTATION in “NORMAL” aka “WHITE” make up lines. The eurocentric beauty standard crosses over towards the shunning of Black models in the fashion industry and many times once a Black model crosses lines they STILL contintue to be depicked as some haute coutrure savage in the wild in animal print. They STILL encounter racism and I dont care i’m saying it. IF YOU DONT HAVE ONE POC MODEL IN YOUR SHOW YOU ARE UPHOLDING RACISM.
This is the same thing with white washing characters in movies and when people reading books even AFTER showing that the character is clearly a POC still reading them white. It’s like a default attitude in the mind of many that POC or rather Blackness can only be shown if they are in a Blackface steretype.
The anti- Blackness in POC including the Black community also plays on the Eurocentric standard of beauty and colorism. Blackness many times is the worst thing you can be so why not hate on it. To avoid embracing and understand Blackness and it’s many different forms lets be violent towards it.
Eurocentric Beauty standard is harmful and violent. Racism is inherently violent it denies humanity to humans. This subject that isn’t addressed messes with the self esteem of young POC. It creates barriers before we even fully understand racism and how it’s ingrained in our lives as Black people. It’s drilled into your head you are not worthy of humanity unless you are white.
There is a NEED for discussion in white academia, there is a NEED to have permanent ebony foundation in Almay/Maybelline/Lo’real lines. There needs to be so we won’t have to make our own. Making our own is a sign of what needs to be changed
The need for our self presevation is serious. This post is to shed light on this serious issue.
Having Black/Brown skin gets people killed. It harms how much money they own in their lifetime, it projects how successful they can be in life and even after finding sucess you still struggle with racism. It doesn’t goes away, IT DOES NOT DISAPPEAR. It is prevalent all your life.
Eurocentric beauty standards are RACIST. So please think again when you say
“She is pretty for a Black girl”
“I wish she was a little bit lighter”
“I perfer lightskint bitches”
“white women with big asses are the best”
“I don’t date (insert POC here because xyz)”
These generalizations uphold oppressive violent racism.
There is a plethora of things i can address and maybe i will in the future but i need for you to think about your actions and your words.
These lines, these faux theroies about our society being post racial, is lies.
It’s still around racism still breathes.
And it harms.
articles racism WOC MOC POC
THE STUDY - Vol.0 | Will this be in a book one day?
7 months ago with 111 notes
blackfashion:
You wont see this story in a book
Louisiana woman burned by three KKK members
This isn’t literature, this is real life. Almost hard to believe in this day and age, but the truth is we still live in a time of unimaginable racism and bigotry. Books on race paint pictures of a post racial society. A country of equality, respect. Yet the where the real battles are fought, people are getting burned to the ground like a bad crops.
Stories like these remind me of the precarious position created by the idea of colorblindness in America. The social commentary of the socially unconscious. Colorblind? No, not even close.
I am offering this bit of reality as a reminder that any book written, and any book read is entirely speculation. Ask the woman burned on 90% of her body what race relations are like and you will undoubtedly get a answer different then the six figure professors publishing works on race.
We read books as opportunities to gain insight into the complex world we live in, understand our position and place. It should then hold true that we use these unbelievable events as a piece of the puzzle in understanding race in America.
However, we wont see this story in a book, it may not even get the media attention it deserves. Society doesn’t want to give light to the underbelly of America, the media, and yes the people want to see progress, progress and more progress. No one wants to be taken back into the dark ages with a brutal story of fire and brimstone.
Remember in all the good, to pay attention to all the bad.
(Source: blackfashion)
blacknews news the study read racism
8 months ago with 1687 notes
nedahoyin:
karnythia:
blackamazon:
so-treu:
karnythia:
bankuei:
lemmetryagain:
mochafleur:
bwwm:
We don’t mean to be blunt… but we kind of do…
to be honest interracial relationships won’t solve the face of racism and in fact can be a product of racism. Almost anyone who is African American is not full African anymore by choice or forced. Most slave owners raped to ether show power, lustful intent, or to embarrass these people that were turned into slaves. They did this to all genders.
Interracial relationships also date back WAY back before American even existed Africa wasn’t just some sit on the mill animalistic place that white supremacy likes to paint it like here in America. Africa had kingdoms in several different countries and for at least 700 years the Moors ruled.
Greeks didn’t magically become the best archietects out of no where they got their info from Kemet (Egypt), Uganda, Ethiopia, etc. All these places had different names but several prominent African countries had kingdoms with working toliets, banks, artists, and anything else that is attributed to the Greek/Roman lifestyle.
In short so no
interracial relationships won’t solve racism
i’m responding to this cause this shit was all in the Black woman tag.
fyi for i get some shit I have nothing against interracial relationships as I have been in some myself. Before people want to come and shit on me.
But these pictures give a false sense of hope and fulfillment without actually tackling the problem of racism.
As a black woman married to a white man this shit pisses me off. People swear up and down making mixed babies solves racism, IT.DOES.NOT. It takes hard work, owning your stereotypes, and admitting how hard it is to live in this world as a non white person. When you have some level of consciousness you are constantly fighting against this silly ass way of thinking. Fuck this picture.
The more I see of these bullshit ass “kumbayah we’re all in love” kind of pictures, the more I realize that the underlying message they’re TRYING to convey is, “The true picture of love, is loving white people”.
Notice you don’t ever see two POC together as some sort of anti-racism ad.
You don’t hear the stories where the white person in the couple ditches the POC when they decide they want to “get a serious relationship”.
You don’t see the part where the relationship goes fine until the parents of the white couple pour out enough racism, and the white partner either decides to give up on the relationship (finding other “reasons” of course), OR, refuses to check their parents and just asks the POC to endure the unbearable.
You don’t see the part where the couple raises a kid and the white parent is ill-equipped to teach the child about what they need to do for survival against the bullies, the teachers, the strangers, the police.
You especially don’t see any part where this fucking magical kiss changes police violence, health care disparities, differences in pay rates, differences in hiring rates, differences in promotions, microaggressions, bank loans, murder rates, or incarceration.
But hey, a white person is kissing you, don’t you understand that the Heavens have parted, the Divine has come to Earth, the Good Word has poured forth and why would you worry about living safely, in health or wanting to be paid for work - shouldn’t you be grateful that THE WHITENESS HAS DEEMED YOU WORTHY?
The Kumbayah Myth is built on white supremacy.
As long as white supremacy is part of your idea of a relationship, you don’t have respect, or love, involved in any actual way.
Seriously, I was my ex-husband’s way to rebel & our son was a statement until he got darker than a paper bag & my ex couldn’t remember a word he said about what kind of father he was going to be, these days if it weren’t for the child support withholding order I doubt he’d acknowledge he has a kid at all. It’s been 10 years & I’m certain he never did check the grandmother telling stories about darkies at our son’s second b-day party, or step to his mother about her refusal to display any pics of kiddo once it was clear he couldn’t pass. Love doesn’t conquer racism, but it sure sounds good to people with no real investment in reality.
“The more I see of these bullshit ass “kumbayah we’re all in love” kind of pictures, the more I realize that the underlying message they’re TRYING to convey is, “The true picture of love, is loving white people”.”
“The more I see of these bullshit ass “kumbayah we’re all in love” kind of pictures, the more I realize that the underlying message they’re TRYING to convey is, “The true picture of love, is loving white people”.”
“The more I see of these bullshit ass “kumbayah we’re all in love” kind of pictures, the more I realize that the underlying message they’re TRYING to convey is, “The true picture of love, is loving white people”.”
……..
Members of fmaily walked out rather than be associated with us.
And that whole slavery thing.
My grandmother was born in 1911. Her GRANDPARENTS were in 1860. They would have still been the West Indian equivalent of indentured servitude. Tell me when the babies came out light skinned blue eyed and greatgreat grandpa was not but the overseer was not about how revolutionary being loved by white people is.
Now see, you’re going to get me talking about quadroon culture & the Creole on my maternal grandmother’s side & why her grandmother ran for blackness. And about the Irish on my grandfather’s side & how that got us some land but not love or freedom.
—since nobody else decided to touch on this, there’s also the ‘racism still being anifested and perpetuated by this photo because of the fact that this is a black woman kissing a white man instead of a black man kissing a white woman, because black men dating/marrying/fucking white women is still a source of abject horror for white men’ thing..
COMMENTARY IS IMPORTANT. reblogging and reading
racism interracial relationships articles
8 months ago with 266 notes
thechocolatedandymassacre:
lightxiii:
My sister told me something really interesting she learned at school. Race actually doesn’t exist. It’s simply a human-made perception. Think about it like this: do humans come in different species? No. Just because one person is Japanese and the other is American, that doesn’t mean they’re both different types of humans. We’re all human. Nothing divides us. Just keep that in mind.
I wish people would stop saying this.
I get what you’re trying to say, and I’m sure it comes from a sincere place, but statements like this are incredibly dismissive.
I’ll explain why.
Just because race isn’t a biological reality, that doesn’t invalidate the fact that race is a social reality.
Positions like this, “There’s no such thing as race, we’re all just people,” is an incredibly privileged statement to make. And it almost exclusively comes from White People.
And this is because White People aren’t used to having their lives defined by their race. As the default “human” their used to being referred to as a “person” not a “Black person” or an “Asian person”. They never have to deal with having an addendum attached to their humanity.
People of Color are never just “people”. We’re never defined by our common humanity, it’s always about our otherness, our non-Whiteness.
So we don’t have the luxury of saying that “we’re just people” because we never are just “people”.
And it’s not just that we don’t have the luxury of being referred to as simply “people” it’s also that our identities are hard fought.
Do you know how much effort, unlearning, and relearning it takes before one says that they’re proud to be Black? For some people it takes a whole lifetime and for other’s not even that.
We had to teach ourselves pride because we needed it in order to survive. So to try and say to a person who has put so much effort in taking pride in an identity that was forced upon them, that their identity doesn’t matter. It’s incredibly disrespectful.
So yes, biologically speaking, we’re all just humans.
But there is faaaar more to life than biology.
I’m sure you meant well when you thought this, but….yeah….It’s not the most conscious statement in the world.
(via deliciouskaek)
racism race articles
11 months ago with 1161 notes
deliciouskaek:
National Transgender Discrimination Survey [Report for Black Correspondents]:
pityplease:
I’ve highlighted the most important parts of the study for you all to read:
Discrimination was pervasive for all respondents who took the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, yet the combination of anti-transgender bias and persistent, structural and individual racism was especially devastating for Black transgender people and other people of color.
- Black transgender people live in extreme poverty with 34% reporting a household income of less than $10,000/year. This is more than twice the rate for transgender people of all races (15%), four times the general Black population rate (9%), and over eight times the general US population rate (4%).
- Black transgender people are affected by HIV in devastating numbers. Over one-fifth of Black respondents were HIV-positive (20.23%) and an additional 10% reported that they did not know their status. This compares to rates of 2.64% for transgender respondents of all races, 2.4% for the general Black population, and 0.60% of the general US population.
- Nearly half (49%) of Black respondents reported having attempted suicide.
- Black transgender people who were out to their families found acceptance at a higher rate than the overall sample of transgender respondents.
- 50% of Black respondents who attended school expressing a transgender identity or gender non-conformity face harassment.
- Half (51%) reported discomfort seeking police assistance. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Black transgender people had been arrested or held in a cell due to bias at some point in their lives.
- Physical and sexual assault in jail/prison is a serious problem: 29% of Black respondents who had been to jail or prison reported being physically assaulted and 32% reported being sexually assaulted while in custody.
- Health outcomes for Black respondents show the appalling effects of social and economic marginalization, including much higher rates of HIV infection, smoking, drug and alcohol use and suicide attempts than the general population.
- 21% of Black transgender people reported being refused medical care due to bias. Over half of Black transgender people reported having postponed care when they were sick or injured due to fear of discrimination (34%).
- Black transgender people had an extremely high unemployment rate at 26%, two times the rate of the overall transgender sample and four times the rate of the general population.
- Thirty-two percent (32%) of Black transgender people lost a job due to bias and 48% were not hired for a job due to bias.
As you can see, trans* issues ARE race issues.
(via babsissuchafuckinglady-deactiva)
trans trans* transgender tpoc qpoc POC qtpoc Black people Black Women Black Men Queer LGBTQ Racism Discrimination Black community positive issues
On White Womanhood
11 months ago with 768 notes
womenwritingjustice:
A friend of mine at Yale, a young African American man, was fired from his internship as a hospice counselor. Why? A white woman accused him of hitting on her.
And that was that. He was fired—without any just process of hearing his testimony.
Here’s his Facebook update about the event:
“I lost my hospice internship because a white woman reported that she felt uncomfortable around me. She said I repeatedly asked for her number and kept telling her she was cute: two things I never ever did, not once. I’m a black man. I know how to carry myself, professionally; I just forgot how much y’all lie on us anyway….”
This injustice, my friends, is a feminist issue. It’s a feminist issue for 4 reasons:
- Because feminism cares about the dignity and humanity of all persons.
- Because feminism cares about the ways in which “pure white womanhood” has historically been constructed on racist ideologies—ideologies that white men and women have used in horrific ways toward men of color in the pretense of “protecting” white womanhood. (Yes, think Emmett Till. Think the myth of the black rapist.)
- Because feminism cares about how racism toward men of color harms sisters of color. For example, when black and Latino men are unjustly stopped and frisked and locked up (as happens every day in our communities), women of color also bear the economic and emotional injustices in profound ways.
- Because, folks, let’s be blunt: any feminist theory or activism worthy of anything has gotta be founded upon understanding intersectionality—the interlocked reality of all systems of injustice. The feminist concept of intersectionality is a critical framework, developed by folks like Kimberle Crenshaw and the Combahee River Collective.
The reality is that it is often white women—including those of us who truly want to root ourselves in feminist thought and activism— who so often buy into and promote white-supremacist-patriarchy without even realizing it. (Or, at least I know I do or have done.)
This violence must end— and it is the work of white folks to end it, for we are the ones who re-enact this historical system.
(via afrafemme)
feminism racism positive issues
The difference between Trayvon Martin and Allen Coon.
1 year ago with 1050 notes
dansolomon:
This story has been spreading around on conservative blogs and message boards for the past week or so, as the Trayvon Martin story’s gathered momentum. The short version of it is that a 13 year old boy in Kansas City was attacked by two black teenagers, set on fire, and told, “That’s what you get, white boy.”
It’s a horrible story and I’ve zero interest in arguing that one is “worse” than the other. Conservative blogs, meanwhile, have been pointing to the fact that Trayvon Martin’s story has been the subject of a lot of interest and attention, while Allen Coon’s has not, as proof that “it doesn’t matter” because the victim was white.
Here is exactly why that’s absurd: Because it does matter that Allen Coon was attacked. It matters so much that the police immediately responded. They branded it ahate crime. They conducted an investigation, and put out an APB on the attackers. They treated it exactly the way that police treat crimes that matter.
So there’s no need to hold vigils for justice in the case of Allen Coon, because justice has swiftly and readily been sought by the people tasked to seek justice.
The reason people are outraged over Trayvon Martin’s shooting is not, ultimately, because a black teenager was shot. That happens all the time, frankly. What people are outraged about is that the police didn’t seem to treat it as though a crime had occurred. They don’t feel as though justice was sought on behalf of Martin or his family, and that is why they’re outraged. This isn’t about “no child should ever be attacked and society should not rest when it happens,” because we don’t live in a world where that would be practical. It’s about the police, and the prosecutors, in Florida who failed to seek justice in any way that the people observing the case recognize as seeking justice.
Or, in short: Allen Coon’s attack was tragic and wrong, and if the police had responded to Trayvon Martin’s in the same manner that they had responded to Coon’s, this would never have become anything close to a national news story.
(via babsissuchafuckinglady-deactiva)
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