Maybe Tumblr is the right place to ask this
To the non white people of Tumblr:
Is there, anywhere in the near future, a stopping point? Is there a glass ceiling we haven't hit yet? Is there something so significantly consequential that must take place?
When was the last time something happened to you, negatively or otherwise, that you didn't stop to ask yourself, "Is it because I'm...."?
As a person who has gone through long term mental and emotional abuse causing myself to believe I am below everyone else, I have to wonder. Is there a point at which you cross the line of fighting for a cause and playing the victim? Is there a point at which you stop seeing the need to fight and create more victims? Is there a point at which you can see a white person and not think they hate you? Is there a point at which instead of assuming someone doesn't like because you're not white, you check your own characteristics and figure out if maybe they dislike you for another reason? Is there a point at which we can make that first question "is it because I'm....", the last question you ask? Not because it shouldn't be questioned, but because it's no longer such a deep seeded issue.
Don't get me wrong here. White people fucked up. They destroyed the beautiful lands that America once was. They nearly decimated an entire race of people and grew a nation from their graves off the backs of bought and paid for people. Whites have done wrong. However, I wish to give a bit of a history lesson. The Irish that came over, they were also slaves, just by another name. In fact, anyone who came over here whom didn't directly pay their own way were slaves. They came here to make their lives better, and never really got the opportunity because instead of earning their way out of servitude, they were forced to stay their whole lives. Some even past that, their children taking on their debts.
Thing is though, all of those people, everyone who lived in the days of slavery, they're dead.
Every single one of them.
There is not a single person alive who can actively say they remember life as a slave in America. Not one of them can say they remember owning a slave in America.
That being said, there is a whole generation that is dying off right now. They are the last remnants of the days before Martin Luther King Jr. Once they are gone, American will not have known segregation.
That's not the end of it, I know. There are things that have occured since MLK's assassination that have stirred things up far more than they ever should have been.
But why not remember what he said the next time you think " it must be because I'm..." Because that was not his message. His message was one of peace. One of harmony. One of cohabition. Not one of who hurt who more. Not one of who is more at fault. Not one of who should take the blame. Not one of an eye for an eye. But one of ending the battle.
So I ask now, what can white people do? What is it that they haven't done as a race to mend relations? Is it truly the 40 acres and a mule? Because the history behind that (and the logistics of it) have proven why that wouldn't work. I'm at a loss. White people try to ask questions, try to dig deeper to learn and understand. And they get booted out and told off. And the yelled at for portraying people of colour incorrectly.
This can't be fixed without conversation. It can't be fixed by assuming all white people are dumb ass racists. It can't be fixed by assuming coloured people just want it all. It has to be fixed by sitting down and talking about it. Because both sides are ignorant. White people don't know the struggle? Give them an explanation.
But for the love of god, take five minutes and actually ask yourself if the reason your daughter's principal is telling her she can't have coloured hair extensions is actually because she's black or if it's just part of the dress code. Or if you were turned down for the part because you're black, or because the other guy genuinely had a better singing voice for the character. Or if people dislike a character because they're black, or they were just a genuinely dislikable character. I have seen so many things telling me I'm racist that I genuinely am starting to believe it. All because I didn't like Martha as a Doctor Who companion. I didn't like Clara either. Or a handful of other characters that have popped up.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, the generations in which racism was basically ingrained in them from birth are going away. There are fewer people in this world who genuinely don't like you because you're black. But if you keep assuming people don't like you because you are something, well then that's how people are going to see that thing. If I say people don't like me because I'm blue eyed, eventually, people are going to hate me for it, if only because I think that to be my most defining trait. Let people hate you because you have a better voice than them. Let people hate you because you're prettier than them. Or because you can cook better. Stop letting them hate you because you're not the right color. They didn't turn you down because you're black, they turned you down because you're too tall.
vaporwave
dailybridgerton
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
romaincrisis
