wildflowers;

                                                                            i rise from my worst disasters                                                                                                          i turn, i change

a mess of a conceptless oc multimuse                                          written by steph

If you’re talking about racism, don’t say “non-Asians”, just say white people. The term “nonblack” was specifically about acknowledging nonblack people’s privilege by being Not Black, and like all our terms, nonblack people are taking it and copying it for themselves and applying it to their own struggles when it’s inaccurate and inapplicable. Just like “anti-X racism”.

If you’re talking about an intracommunity issue and don’t want it reblogged by those who aren’t in your community, say so. Don’t say “non-X don’t reblog” bc you’re still perpetuating antiblackness

Also while I’m at it @ nonblack people: STOP referring to Black people as “blacks” even if you’re quoting someone, I shouldn’t have to explain why it’s not okay. Call out other nonblack people when this happens.

“nonblack” was coined in an african american context and now encompasses the antiblackness all black people face today globally, acknowledging that nonblack people can and do uphold the institution of antiblackness. that doesn’t mean the framework can or should grow to encompass nonblack people’s experience with racism.

and then in 2019! i still see people trying to coin ‘antiasianness’ and i just think what a waste it is for people to still be focusing on these terms and using them when you can so easily talk about your own issues with racism without co-opting our struggles as black people. it just doesn’t have enough relevance to current race relations/ politics or effect on racism in the real world to be as widespread as it is. and wanting a substitute for our framework, or terms specific to us, for you nonblack folks to use, means you’re missing the point entirely. 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting representation. There’s also nothing wrong with demanding good representation for an underrepresented group of people. 

The problem however, is that a lot of these discussions happen after Black people have made strides for themselves. I’m not sure if you were around during the #OscarsSoWhite controversy back in 2015/2016, but I certainly was. April Reign, a Black woman created the hashtag as a means of getting better representation for all marginalized groups (including Black people, NBPOC, LGBT, Women, differently-abled folk, etc) Now the people who spoke up the most during this were Black people (and that’s not to say there weren’t NBPOC’s. and other marginalized voices speaking up, but Black people got most of the attention (whether because we were louder, or because of hypervisibility or what have you) and Black people got most of the brunt and criticism. Saying that we’re “Just looking for things to be upset about” and “This doesn’t even really matter” and people were all up in Ms. Reign’s mentions with their racist shit. 

Once the controversy hit the big stage, suddenly more and more NBPOC were beginning to speak up, but when they did, it was only to criticize Black people for not placing ALL POC’s in the limelight. 

Look at the #NotYourMule tag on Twitter for more information (and there were plenty of think pieces on the hashtag as well). 

It’s like, when Black people advocate for something we’re always “Complaining too much and that’s why we’re behind” but once our voices and issues come to the forefront of conversations, suddenly other groups demand that we “quiet down” so they can “speak” even though there’s nothing stopping them from advocating for their own issues. 

like when MIA criticized Beyonce for not speaking about Muslim lives when she had the perfect opportunity to speak on those issues herself.

Or when Ming Na Wen only spoke up about #OscarsSoWhite when it was time to criticize Chris Rock (a Black man) for not being “inclusive enough”

Or when Gina Rodriguez kept opening her mouth to belittle Black women and the strides Black people have done in the entertainment industry (many of whom are/were Afro-Latinas)  

Or when Aziz Ansari in that episode of Master of None pretty much threw shade a black people because “We have Beyonce and other Black people to advocate for our issues while Asians don’t”

Or when Salma Hayek spoke over Jessica Williams when she was trying to talk about her experiences being a Black woman. 

Or every Black history month when I, and many other people I follow/know have to explain that 1. There are other months that celebrate the history of non-white people and 2: No, it’s not Black people’s fault that they may not get as much attention as BHM.

I remember when Aquaman was first making the rounds on the Twitter verse and there were plenty of people pretty much demanding that Black people show up for Aquaman the same way we did for Black Panther. There seems to be an undercurrent of entitlement to our labor, our voices,  our movements, and everything else we do.     

And these are just a few examples. They only ever seem to find their voices when Black people are making headway for out own issues (and again, that’s not to say ALL NBPOC do this, but enough do that it is a sticking point for a lot of Black people.) 

I’ll even give you another example. I’m a gay man, and in the 2000′s the biggest phrase for the LGBT movement was “Gay is the New Black” as if Black people had “had their turn” and needed to step aside and let “The New Minority” take the spotlight. And what that did was not only appropriate Black Civil Rights iconography, but also erased Black Queers (like myself) and made it seem like we didn’t deal with both antiblack racism and homophobia at the same time. People are more than happy to take our history and our iconography to make strides for themselves, while also erasing and ignoring Black people they come in contact with. Why? 

I’m all for solidarity. I’m all for working together so that everyone can have a voice and good representation, but I am not here for other groups trying to make Black people feel guilty for trying and making strides for our community. 

And Crazy Rich Asians, Aquaman and Coco all did very well in the Box Office, and yet I don’t see any think pieces demanding that we have a “Mexican Aquaman” or a “Polynesian Crazy Rich Asians”  or an “Asian Coco”. And why should we? Each of those films were beautiful in how they portrayed their varying cultures  and no one is saying “We need a Non-Asian/Non-Mexican/Non-Polynesian” version of these narratives, but for some reason that’s what everyone seems to say whenever we get a Black film.