“THAT’S RACIST!!!”
“You are talking about racism, and THAT’S RACIST!”
“You called me out on my racist behavior, and THAT’S RACIST!!”
If I had a dollar for every time someone called me racist on social media, I could finally pay off all my loans and go live on an island, sip red wine all day and write my memoir entitled Hannah Drake – A Day in The Life of A Black Racist. However, no one ever pays me for the content that I post online, and while many people send me pleasant comments and emails, inevitably there will always be a crisp white sheet and pointy hood wearing person, that wants to remind me that my writing is “racist” and I need to “tone it down.”
It happened so much in 2017 that for 2018 I created a blanket statement about racism that I would just post in response to people calling me a racist and then finally I decided about mid-2018 that if someone responded to me calling me a racist, I was immediately blocking them. I was just not in the mood to entertain ignorance anymore. Not in the year of Beyonce headlining for Coachella and Google being loose and available all day long was I going to explain to a White person the definition of racism ever again and why it is impossible for a Black person to be racist. In a time where Black people are fighting for air to breathe, my patience has grown thin educating people on Racism 101. In this day and age, if White people are sincere about wanting to learn, the information is out there, and you waste my time and insult my intelligence by thinking that I have the time to explain to you the basic definition of racist.
Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a spirited conversation, and I am open to being challenged about anything that I write, but I do not have the patience or the desire to continue to give remedial lessons. It’s like when your phone gives you directions, and at first, it explains to you how to get out of your neighborhood. At the very least, you should know know how to get out of your neighborhood to the main road. It is the same way when it comes to race relations. At the VERY least White people should know what a racist is and let’s continue from there. If you are still confused, just turn on your TV or log into Twitter- Donald Trump displays it every single day.
White people seem to think if they feel a little uncomfortable about a subject that deals with race then you are being racist. So just in case you are still confused, let me be clear, the following does not make a Black person racist…
1. Discussing racism.
2. Using the word colonizer.
3. Writing about racism.
4. Calling out racists.
5. Teaching our kids about racism.
6. Seeing color.
7. Demanding that the justice system is held accountable for racist policies.
8. Protesting the senseless deaths of Black people.
9. Stating someone is racist that is openly racist.
10. Asking that you do not touch our hair.
11. Talking about race-related issues that make you uncomfortable.
12. Writing a tweet about racism that hurts your feelings.
13. Accurately telling history to reflect the atrocities that White people have inflicted on the world.
14. Taking a knee to protest police brutality and the senseless deaths of Black people.
15. Choosing not to stand during the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance.
16. Wearing Nikes.
17. Blocking or muting you on any social media platform because we do not want to listen to your racist bullshit.
18. Saying, Black Lives Matter.
19. Fighting for justice.
20. Demanding equity.
21. Reparations.
22. Saying Black Girl Magic.
23. Supporting Affirmative Action.
24. Rooting for Everybody Black.
25. Saying Black Excellence and pointing out our sheer magnificence.
26. Demanding that Hollywood works to be more inclusive.
27. Supporting a show called Dear White People.
28. Giving you the side-eye when you greet a Black person with the Wakanda greeting.
29. Wanting the Black family to win on Family Feud.
30. Asking that you do not call cornrows boxer braids.
31. Black people saying the n-word and not allowing White people to say the n-word.
32. Mentioning that 53% of White women that voted, voted for a pussy grabbing lunatic.
33. Demanding that Black people have a voice.
34. Protesting a business because they have racist policies.
35. Refusing to spend our dollars in a company that shuns or calls the police on Black people for existing.
36. Demanding that Black people tell their own stories.
37. Not inviting you to the cookout.
38. Demanding that you do not appropriate our culture pretending that you invented it, Kim.
39. Wearing a shirt that says Caucasians.
40. Writing a blog on writesomeshit.com that challenges you to think differently and behave differently.
None of these things make a Black person racist.
Not one.
But let’s just be honest. You already know that. You know what you are doing when you call a Black person a racist. It is a smokescreen. It is an easy way for you never to go deeper, to never challenge your thinking, to never attempt to change. It is a convenient way for you to bypass your feelings of being uncomfortable. It is an easy way to absolve yourself from any wrongdoing. Somehow you believe by calling a Black person racist it will excuse racist behavior. Instead of taking the time to pause and ask yourself, “Why does this blog or tweet make me feel this way,” you would rather just type racist and move on to the next thing as if somehow that erases racism in this world.
You would rather put the issues of racism on the shoulders of Black people instead of facing the truth and your own guilt. Because surely if Black people are the real racists that means White people can’t be guilty of all the things they are accused of, right? It’s not you, it’s them. It’s not the system, it’s evil Black people and their racist tweets that speak about racism that has ruined the system. It’s not you that is racist because you have Black friends; it’s the blog about racism that hurt your feelings that is racist. It’s not your husband that calls your Black neighbor the n-word that is racist; it’s the Black neighbor demanding they be treated with respect as they walk on the sidewalk, that is the real racist. It is not the police, it is Black people talking about racism within the police department, that is racist. It is not Trump and his policies, its Black people that call Trump a racist, that’s the issue. It’s not you being racist, it’s the Black people pointing out your overt and latent racism that is racist. Right?
