On an episode of The View, Sunny Hostin was speaking about the hypocrisy of Republicans to impeach a president for perjury yet refuse to impeach Trump for clearly attempting to conspire with a foreign government for his gain. Meghan-My-Dad-Was-John-McCain didn’t listen to the totality of what Sunny was saying but tried to speak about herself and offer her commentary.

Whoopi- Girl please stop talking right now.

Every Black Woman in the world: THANK YOU, Whoopi!!!

I felt that STFU with my chest. https://t.co/afQ3W9VHf8

— Hannah Drake (@HannahDrake628) December 16, 2019

This is quite typical of Meghan and many White women like Meghan. Sunny was speaking about the hypocrisy of Republicans as a whole. Yet, Meghan wanted to talk about herself because, of course, that is what it is always about- centering White women. If you watch episodes of The View, this is the modus operandi of Meghan and many White women. Meghan often disregards Black women speaking because, of course, what she has to say is more important than anything a Black woman has to say.

However, today, Whoopi Goldberg ate her Wheaties. And Whoopi told Meghan, “Girl, please stop talking.”

And I felt that statement deep within my soul.

Whoopi spoke for many Black Women in this world that must work with women like Meghan.

As an aside, “Lord, please give me the confidence and financial security of Whoopi Goldberg that I can say, “Girl, please stop talking,” and not be worried about my bills!

I felt Whoopi’s, “Girl, please stop talking,” because Whoopi is all of us.

Here we have Meghan McCain, a White woman that is known for one thing, being John McCain’s daughter. Period. That’s it.  Yet she is in a position to sit on national TV, interrupt, throw tantrums, walk out, cross her arms, and still be employed. If a Black woman acted like her on the job, Human Resources would have told her, “You aren’t a good fit here.” “You aren’t a team player.” “You are fired.”

Every week Meghan is allowed to be the epitome of White Women Audacity and Privilege. If Black women acted like her in any way, shape, or form, we would have long been fired. We would be labeled as angry. We would be told we have an attitude. Yet it is okay for Meghan to behave this way because she understands she is a White woman, and with that comes the privilege of acting how she desires at work. If worse comes to worst, she can always claim, “They were picking on me.”  If Meghan were ever removed from The View, she would fail forward, and this nation would rally around her because White women are always allowed to be the victim.

When Whoopi told Meghan, “Girl, please stop talking,” it was a gift from Baby Jesus. HALLELUJAH! It is something many Black women have always wanted to say on the job. For me, it was synonymous with, “Girl, STFU!”

Trust me when I tell you, every Black woman has a STFU in our spirit. It lingers there marinating like grandma’s peach preserves. We wake up suppressing a STFU. We pray to God to keep us from saying STFU. Every day we go to work, we are saying, “Lord, I need this job. Please don’t let this be the day a STFU escapes from my lips.” Trust me, every time you ask you a Black woman what she did over the weekend, and we know you really don’t give a damn, we are thinking STFU. Every time you ask us, “Oh, what is that? Colored greens?” And we have to smile and say, “You mean ‘collard greens’?” We are suppressing a STFU. Every time we switch up our hair, and you say, “Oh my hair gets so kinky too,” we are holding back a STFU! Every time we write an email and say, “per our last conversation,” we are holding back a STFU! Black women are continually choking on and swallowing down a STFU! It is our understanding that anything we say will be perceived as angry and threatening, and you, as a White woman, will always come out on top.

Our STFU isn’t a phrase just to cuss you out. It is our way of saying, “I don’t have the time or patience to deal with your ignorance today.”  It is our way of saying, “You have stepped on my last good nerve, and I cannot deal with you any longer.” It is our way of saying, “We understand because you are White that I have to deal with the shit that comes out of your mouth. When in fact, it would do my soul well to tell you STFU, go eat your cheese sandwich in your cubicle, and leave me alone.”

But Black women can’t say that. Not while working 9-5 in White Spaces.

We must swallow down the bitterness of racist microaggressions every day. We must smile as you make racist offhand comments. We purse our lips, holding back a STFU because we have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay. But trust me, it is there, and a Black woman has told you STFU more times in her mind than you will ever know.

Today, Whoopi’s STFU just came out. And Black Women thank her for it! STFU, Meghan!