#antiracism

Disclaimer: I have nothing against this user specifically, but I think they're representative of a wider trend which I'd like to talk about. Don't go pester them, it doesn't materially help anyone.

There's a lot to be said about how the average (white) westerner cares more about harm to a dog than mass harm to racialised people or people from the global south.

Why is that, specifically, what made you stop reading? as opposed to everything else? Nothing about how the “transition” in tender is the flesh was at first gradually carried out by the ultra-rich on poor Black Africans for sport, and not out of necessity as the ruling class claim in the text. Nothing about how Tejo treats Jasmine essentially the same way he treated the dogs he euthanised all those years ago, and is enabled to do so by his status as both a man and a free human. Or how he and his wife steal the baby he impregnated her with as their own, in a way reminiscent of residential schools, the Stolen Generations, and other examples of forced assimilation and genocide around the world. Nothing else about systemic butchery of othered and marginalised groups under capitalism and imperialism?

Nah, the off-screen dog death was the most unforgivable part.

I'm reminded of the Palestinian man and his dog who were displaced by Israeli occupation who received messages asking how to help his dog, but not him (if anyone can link me to that post I'd be very grateful).

I'm reminded of the uproar about US law enforcement killing dogs and the mainly unanimous support of initiatives against it, as opposed to law enforcement's murder of Black kids and babies. The murders of baby Kohen Wiley and dog Jameson a day apart in June, with the latter receiving far more public outcry.

I don't follow this creator in any capacity. This video vindicates me.

The invisible hierarchies that we are raised within that teaches us that people of one group are more powerful than another group can leak into our thinking even as we are trying to be anti-racist. What I mean by that is that when we witness someone experiencing racism, in a spiritual space or in another kind entirely, it is returning to that system of hierarchical belief to cast that person as a victim despite further context of their agency or personhood.

In this instance, the white astrologer Steven Forrest talked about using the n-word and race based humor in the 1980s and 1990s on his podcast to Ricky Williams, who is his Black co-founder of both that podcast and its related app, Lila. Ricky Williams is a former football player who approached Steven to develop Lila. He likely provided at least some of Lila's initial funding, making him and Steven business partners.

However, I have seen well intended white people talk about Ricky assuming he has no power in their relationship. I've seen words used like "subordinate" to refer to him as well as comparisons to other racist incidents where the involved white person was the employer or had much more power than the Black people. To assume that Ricky works for Steven is following racist assumptions that Black people work for white people.

If you want to be anti-racist, it is pertinent to watch your thinking around these issues as you discuss them. There was still a power dynamic between Steven and Ricky because Steven has worked as an astrologer for decades, has deep connections to some astrology organizations who host large events, and has more of a platform in the field than Ricky. Between that and his whiteness, the racism is a very real concern. However, it is not accurate to talk about Ricky in a way that erases his contributions to Lila and disempowers him in his relationship to Steven.