Ok I'm a black woman who's been on Tumblr for a couple of years now, and between the extreme misogynoir and racism in general, I don't know WHY i keep coming back it is exhausting. For years now, though? I've been seeing so called leftists basically pushing segregation under the guise of "anti racism" and it's fucking scaring me cause I know white ppl are falling for it, cause they would nEEVeRRrr challenge a black "leftists" opinion so they don't have to deal with people calling them racist.
These ppl make posts saying that white ppl shouldn't interact with black media. If there is black media they like then they should find a white alternative, or make THEIR OWN white alternatives (ex-fucking-scuse me?! Is that not white washing?!), like, I remember during the Vine era, ppl were calling white folk racist for liking Vines like "whoever threw that paper, your mom's a hoe," and covid era, I saw some kid get called out for blackfacing on here over sending a gif of that "stop it, get some help" meme on some Discord server, and this type of shit only seems to gets more louder by the year. I've seen popular posts saying that white folk shouldn't be following black people, that white folk shouldn't be interacting with black fictional characters. White folk should just stay with their own kind. Oh, I could go in to so much more I've seen.
Half convinced these people ain't real, like they must be some far right wing psyop meant to cause division. It's like, how is this going to help any?!? How is this going to help preaching that white folk just SHOULDN'T. Is this not racism with extra steps? Telling white folk that they shouldn't interact with us at all? Is this not segregating us all over again? They gon start suggesting we have different bathrooms again, too, just so there ain't no chance a white person looks at us wrong? Is this not inherently anti-black opinions hiding under the guise of teaching white folk what for??
There is a LOT of white leftists I come across on here who don't treat me like a human once they cop that I'm black, their personality is IMMEDIATELY shut off, they'll instead start treating me like a hamster who'll have a heart attack if they breathe too loud, and honestly I wonder how often if it's from opinions like this being spread, it's fking annoying, cause like, dear god, would you jump off a bridge if a black person told you? But mostly, it's scary, it's fucking scary knowing, especially young people, are truly growing up thinking that completely abstaining from black ppl is the epitome of anti-racism. Like no, come sit down nd share some cornbread with me, laugh with me, let's be human to each other <3
It's born out of this weird perverted purity culture, wherein one becomes morally wrong if they do anything bad ever. The best way to avoid ever saying anything racist to a POC is...to never talk to us. Except that's how you end up in an echo chamber of all white people who are convinced they never say anything racist, while simultaneously segregating themselves.
Everyone will say, think, or do something racist at some point in their lives. It comes free with living in a racist society. The best way to get rid of your racism is to hang out with people from lots of different backgrounds, and accept that you will say something that makes someone uncomfortable. Just learn from it, apologize once, and move on.
Treating POC like we're fragile and can't ever hear you say something that might be construed as racism is still racist. Not interacting with POC, no matter your reasoning, is still racist.
There's also the related perversion of "cultural appropriation". It's not appropriation to buy items from creators of color, to consume the media we produce, or to participate in a cultural event if we invite you to. Cultural exchange is a necessary part of understanding the people around you.
