The Girl in the Fireplace

you are melting during spring

you are literally in fucking hell during summer and it just rains a lot

you are melting but also dry as fuck during fall

you are freezing your ass and guess what, also melting in winter

Raven raven-things at Great Falls Park, Virginia 

July 2015

Tem gente que fica por ai xingando “militante de internet”, como se compartilhar vivências, estar disposto a ouvir um desabafo e endossar discursos de emponderamento on line fosse algo menor, mas foi graças aos homens e mulheres negras que conheci na internet, nos ultimos meses, que to aprendendo a me olhar no espelho e, pela primeira vez, sorrir pra mim mesmo por estar começando a gostar de mim como sou. É graças a essas pessoas que eu estou aprendendo que ser negra/negro é lindo sim, que não preciso ficar dependendo de aprovação de branco pra nada que diz respeito a minha autoestima, que eu sou atraente sim, que eu posso despertar sentimentos em outras pessoas sim, dentre muitas outras coisas que vocês, brancos, passaram 23 anos falando pra mim que eu nao era, nao podia ter, nao podia sentir, nao podia desejar, etc.

É graças a essa galera que eu to deixando de ser trouxa. E essas pessoas estão cada dia mais fora da matrix e presentes no meu dia-a-dia.

Some informative bi humor for the awesome FYBG followers.  If you’re reading this directly from the FYBG page, use the right/left arrows to see more.

Foremost, it’s false. Racism is defined as prejudice or discrimination on grounds of race. Any dictionary you pick up will provide this as the primary definition, any the vast majority of people you ask will concur. Words are given meaning by consensus. These are sounds and scribbles that hold meaning purely because we agree they do. And so the prevailing agreement is our truth. The “systemic/systematic” factor is a purely stipulative definition. It’s a secondary definition used as shorthand, because it’s tiresome to write “systematic racism” every other clause in academic literature and the like. It does not replace the primary definition. It does not make prejudice against the privileged any less wrong.

Prejudice against white people remains wrong whether or not it’s called racism. “A rose by any other name,” as they say. Because if racism was by definition systemic prejudice, systemic discrimination, systemic harassment, the non-systemic equivalents will still be heinous. 

The systemic/systematic definition doesn't benefit us POC. And I say “us POC” because I’m black. I’m black and I’m tired of seeing good friends, pseudo-family, guilted for the crimes of people who happen to look like them. I’m black and I’m tired of seeing white people rejected for being white, their opinions rejected for presumed bias, segregation clambering back to life in the name of equality, in my name as person of colour. I’m black and I’m tired of having to say I’m black before every clause in these discussions just to be taken seriously.

Because white people aren't the enemy. Colours aren't factions. Nobody chooses birth into privilege, and nobody chooses to look like the racists among their group.

Because if you’re going to make enemies, don’t do it in my name. Don’t do it in the name of equality, and don’t do it in the name of a whole demographic. 

And because being one among the oppressed doesn't make you right. Being privileged doesn't bias you into wrongness. The thoughts of the unrepresented need to be heard, but that doesn't mean shutting the other party up, dismissing them or replacing reason as arbiter. 

In my answer, I am addressing institutional racism, not the concept of racism in general. I am not prejudiced against white people. I have never said anything racist or hateful against white people, and I never would. My followers know this, but without this context this answer could be construed differently.

The thing is, being that I have never posted anything racist, this anon was suggesting that the posts in which I pointed out appropriation of black culture by white people were racist (I assume because they felt like I was telling them white people weren’t allowed to do something). This kind of “reverse” institutional racism does not exist. I do not think any kind of hate can be justified and I agree with some of what you are saying.

I am on this website to learn. I am open to discussion and dialogue, so thank you for sharing. However, even though I do recognize the traditional definition of the word racism, I think language is extremely nuanced, and that exact definition might not be the most relevant in our society. This quote from Dear White People still resonates with me -

“Black people can’t be racist. Prejudiced, yes, but not racist. Racism describes a system of disadvantage based on race. Black people can’t be racist since we don’t stand to benefit from such a system.“