Ms. Blaspheming Bitch: Interesting
It seems like if you’re black and on tumbr, you’re not allowed to be an outspoken, flawed, multifaceted human being. You either have to be some gross stereotype or the “model minority” who agrees with everything white people say and do.
It’s like white people forget that just because black bloggers may talk about racism, that doesn’t make us “activists” or “social justice bloggers.” We’re black. We deal with racism in our everyday lives whether we like it or not. When we come to our blogs, we use it as an outlet. We say things here that we may not be able to say in the “real world” due to risk of bodily harm. This isn’t a game for us. This isn’t some science experiement. We don’t have the luxury of simply “ignoring it” or “not letting it get to us.” This is our life.
While the use of the word n****r in a url, or someone painting themselves black, or someone saying they “identify as a sassy black woman” may not bother you, it’s a big motherfucking deal to us. While you may have no problem explaining whiteness and white privilege over and over again, it gets tiring for us. This is supposed to be our one safe space and yet it’s constantly invaded by people who feel like they’re entitled to our time and effort. We are constantly berated with racial slurs and have our feelings dismissed by people who say they are our “allies.” After dealing with shit like that both on and offline, you better believe we will react. We will be loud and we will be angry. Our anger and defensiveness is completely justified.
But you know what? That anger and being constantly on guard is tiring. It wears down on us physically and mentally. A lot of us just can’t do it anymore. We can’t take the racism from one side and the passiveness from the other anymore. We’re done. A good number of black bloggers are leaving because we just can’t take it anymore.
So you win. That’s right white people. You fucking win. We give up. We concede this round. Now will you leave us alone? Will you let us have a safe space now? Or will you just follow us there to monitor what we say and do?
I don’t really get this. I post whatever the fuck I want. Everybody knows where the “Unfollow” button is, and I assume people who don’t want to read what I have to post can use it … however they identify themselves—racially or otherwise.
(Source: brashblacknonbeliever, via thosevanishedyears-deactivated2)
