what white people think racism is: when you mean to someone because of their race
what racism really is: social and legal systems that puts a race beneath another, vilifying them, fetishizing them, sexualizing them, and creates a usually negative bias towards that group.
where childhood is not an option when you’re the villain or where you are always seen at a child’s level no matter your age
where you are always responsible if someone else says/does something racist towards you, because existing invites aggression somehow
where you do not fit beauty standards, because beauty is afforded to the human, and your conditioned low self-esteem lets you know that
where you’re either synonymous with violence, stupidity, or infantilization, because you cannot make your own choices that aren’t irrational.
where your feelings are routinely invalidated and your daily life experiences are not enough evidence and cannot be trusted, because you’re a suspicious character whose humanity is always on trial. so you do not get to define universally what racism is
where you do not get feel anything besides rational at all times, to be carefree or upset or angry without it being a stereotype of you overreacting to everything
where if you fit into a stereotype it could mean your death and the rest of your race tries to put you down as a self-elevating technique, because they have internalized the lie that when you deny your race and culture you become human. where fitting a stereotype means “see i knew they where all like this”
where if you don’t fit into a stereotype you are not your race and culture, because people have such narrow views of what you’re supposed to be that you cannot possibly exist and be your race at the same time, so people of every race take away yours. Oreo. Banana. Coconut. Apple.
where you will legally get more time for the same crimes
where you will socially be demonized more for the same crimes
where when you quell the crimes keeping your race down, there are always more that’s made up to keep you in your place (The War on Drugs =_=)
where you get paid less for the same work
where you get hired less with the same qualifications
where having a culturally-coded name that’s not acceptable, like Ibrahim, Jose, or Unique can stop you from getting a job
where there are so many things in place to keep you impoverished and uneducated but it’s still your fault if you don’t have the strength and good luck to defy the lack of social mobility and create your own
where entire countries whose cultures and economies have been destroyed are trying to restart alone and the people that destroyed them blame the country for its own destruction
where the farther your features are from your race the more beautiful you’re considered
where your rank in social hierarchy changes how people treat you the more they find out about your identity, and the more marginalized you are by coming out of the closet or not being christian or not being able-bodied and neurotypical the worse you get racism, because you are a bigger target for various acts of violence and microaggressions
where you get used to microagressions before you hit double digits
where your most recent experience with a microaggression was probably yesterday if the day just started
where you idea of a microaggression is the white summation of racism
where your family teaches you how to assimilate to white culture to try and protect you from all of the above
where your death is an opportunity to blame you for it and demonize you in your grave
where there is a death count just for existing
where there is a death count just for existing
where there is a death count just for existing
This.
Month: July 2015
Racism has me so exhausted right now.
Some thoughts…
StandardAll taylorswift did today was let her white privilege and white feminism show to the masses. Systematic oppression of black people, especially black women, is why Nicki will never be a cultural phenomenon in pop culture like Miley or Taylor because they are starting from two different levels. Nicki is starting 17 steps behind Miley (who has an industry parent), and 17 steps behind Taylor – who is America’s sweetheart just by being white and traditionally pretty – because she is a black woman.
Therefore, when Nicki does something in the industry, especially in the hip hop industry, she has to work twice as long, and twice as hard, to get half of what white artists are literally handed without trying. And even then, her allocades come with the * of “black artist”, and not just “artist”. So not only does Nicki have to survive in the entertainment as a woman, which is hard enough, she has to survive in this industry as a black woman. Black women are the literal bottom of the barrel in society due to the systematic oppression of gender and race.
So when Nicki is upset that her video, which broke records, and became a hit by media standards, doesn’t receive a nomination, as trivial as the VMAs may happen to be, she has every right as a hard working black woman to be upset that white women, doing the same thing, are getting recognition for their work.
More often than not, those women, are copying/imitating things black women have been CONDEMMED for in the past. For instance: Miley twerks and it’s a new cultural phenomenon. A black woman has been twerking since God created Earth and being told that what we are doing is degrading/too sexual/too exotic/too black/too anything but right.
Just like black women have bigger butts, lips, or finding new ways to do our hair (cornrows/weaves etc), we get stomped on for these features or techniques that get deemed ugly or ghetto, but the minute a white woman begins to do it, it’s “edgy” and new.
So what I’m not going to stand by and let happen is more white people sit around and say, “Nicki didn’t deserve an award anyway bc a, b, c….” When Nicki likely WOULDN’T be nominated at all because those in power (usually white people), find any black person in a position of power/creativity/uniqueness , as a threat to the way they see the power balance of the world, and will consciously or unconsciously condemn the black person for that, and refuse to give praise or awards or whatever when it’s due.
Additionally, Taylor telling Nicki to come on stage with her if she wins is her shrugging off this systematic racism that benefits HER, and maintaining her position of power as a white person, and instead showing pity toward an oppressed person. It’s truly embarrassing.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
But this is the “beef” between Nicki and Taylor that people have been talking about.
I guess Nicki has had enough of the shenanigans and snubs that these award shows throw towards black, female artists, and as is typical of white feminism, Taylor Swift came in to stop the girl-on-girl hate!
I’m here for Nicki and every one of the tweets/retweets she’s made this evening
my tweets on the matter because i think i might be too exhausted to write about it, we’ll see
Im so proud of eminent black women in the industry standing up and defending their role while white women sub due them and take them as trivialized occurrences
remember when Andy scored among the highest ever on the aptitude test for becoming a police officer but then was denied because the interview showed that he was too kind and trusting and empathetic to be a cop
#andy’s character development is so beautiful#he starts out as the most selfish#uncaring person you could ever meet#but basically by trying to win over april#the second most selfish uncaring person you could meet#he turns into this delicate flower of love#to the point where everything he does is for other people (via ganondilf)
“Guided Motions” by Austin Willis
austinjwillis.tumblr.com
Instagram: Visualsbywillis
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