Pro-tip: white privilege doesn’t mean white people have perfect lives.

ethiopienne:

It means that white people do not have to deal with institutionalized, systemic racism in addition to their everyday problems. It means institutionalized, systemic racism does not cause white people’s everyday problems.

It means when white people go home and turn on their TVs after a long, hard day at work, they can rest assured knowing that they will not only be guaranteed to see people who look like them on the screen, but they will never have to actively search to find a positive depiction of people who look like them.
It means even when white people buy their groceries with food stamps, they don’t have to worry that they’ll be followed around the supermarket for “no reason.”

You think you have no white privilege because you’re poor? Think again. You think your white privilege disappears because you’re not a cisgendered heterosexual? Think again. You think your white privilege disappears because you’re disabled? Think again.

It means that all problems white people face are not exclusive to white people. People of color face those same problems, too. But in addition to any problem white people face, people of color must also bear the burden of dealing with an entire social, cultural, political, economic climate that works against us each and every single day.

And here’s the thing about the effect of racism on PoC’s everyday lives: it’s not like adding one more little thing. This isn’t simple math. Racism isn’t just a “minus 1” on our radar. It informs, guides, and shapes the way every other problem is handled.
Think about it. When white people are pulled over by the cops, their biggest fear is jail time. When black people are pulled over by the cops, our biggest fear is that they’ll kill us and we won’t even get 30 seconds on the 5:00 news. 

(via moniquill)

NavaHoe?

the-smartass:

NavaHoe?

Oh, I see. Like Navajo but you take the “jo” and put “hoe” instead.

Oh, ahaha, that’s cute.

Okay fuckers, let’s have a little chitchat.

Now what’s a ‘hoe’? It’s an insult used to insult a woman, typically, who is promiscuous. Okay good, so you’re slut shamming and being a misogynist. Well points for you there, kiddo.

Now what are Navajos? Or better yet, who are the Najavos? Yeah, so many of you seem to forget that they’re people and not a style, or fashion trend, or some brand name. You seem to forget that Navajos make up about 300,000 people in the US population and that’s just enrolled members, they’re possibly more than that (I’m talking realm not you wannabes). Majority live in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. They fought for centuries with the Spanish, then the Mexicans and then the Americans. They have a language, they have a history, they have a culture.

Navajo make up some of the most talented visual artists, athletes, and writers. Hell, one of the most kick ass bands in the world are Navajo; Blackfire, I highly recommend you check them out.

So now that you have more information, do you realize just what you did by saying ‘NavaHoe’? No you didn’t come up with a clever little play on words, you just insulted an entire race of people. You just told them they are not worth a thought, not worth consideration, not worth your respect. You just told them, 300,000+ modern day people and billions of ancestors who came before them, they are shit.

They are not worth it.

So else did something like that who we are all taught to hate and despise? Hitler? Oh yes, him too. What about Sadam Hussein? If I remember correctly he hated Kurdish people.

Okay, so maybe you don’t hate the Navajo people but you sure don’t consider them human.

So let’s talk about the average German citizen living in Nazi Germany, because you’re not like Hitler, you’re like them.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.” - Elie Wiezel

I agree with that with my full being, because at least you have an emotion toward the object of your hatred. You consider them worthy of an emotion.

So you think an entire group of people is not worth your consideration. Let’s not just stop at Navajos, we should include all indigenous people because I’m positive you have no respect for them if you’re saying “Navahoe”.

You are indifferent to the continued disrespect, the continued genocide of both human and culture, the continued rape and sexual abuse, the continued health problems, the continued shitty conditions so many live in. You don’t care, you think it’s okay for you to take what they have left, bastardize, and think it’s fucking cute?

You’re going to call yourself a rebel and stick it the haters while stepping on stairs made of millions of people.

You’re indifferent to suffering. You think it’s sad when you see poor hungry children and you blog about it and a second later you reblog a picture of a white girl in a war bonnet.

Do you not get it?

I’m sure that this is a wasted post but if you did read this, remember what I said before you go as a “NavaHoe” or any other racist costume for Halloween this year.

Think about what you’re doing.

No, I'm Not Your Kind, Dear: NEVER FORGET?

floacist:

There has never been another large historical event that has it’s decedents be told to ‘get over’ than the ancestors’ of the enslavement of millions of Africans transported across the Atlantic.

There has never been such any formal set of reparations for the 300+ centuries of enslavement of Africans, and needless to say, there obviously never will be one. (As more time passes, its getting easier to ‘explain’ why reparations simply ‘cannot be made’).

I ponder this question often. How exactly can that be done? How can you get over what is your identity in the US? Your heritage? Get over your lineage? Get over your ancestry? Get over your great grandparents legacy? Get over the fact that you cannot trace your family tree than a few generations?

Hey, any tips guys? You have yet to give out any.

I know many of you like to imagine that the transatlantic slave trade took place thousands of years ago. On some B.C. or some shit. I know its comforting if you compare it to the slaves of the Romans, Greeks or the Hebrews in Egypt [okay, I’m just entertaining the idea that the Biblical story of Exodus is real for a moment] because its ancient history. Too bad it isn’t. There were still former slaves around in the 1940s. (That’s during the time of World War II, by the way. I’m certain no one forgets that).

It seems as though anything that involves Black suffering should either be swept under the rug, or that we must ‘move on’ from it. We should never acknowledge it. Anniversaries should never be mentioned. Just move on and pretend it never happened.

Any time one attempts to bring up slavery in any kind of discussion we are immediately silenced or disregarded; our tragedies don’t matter, they are dismissed whether it be because it was too long ago [slavery was abolished 150 years ago, but the violence and discrimination along with Jim Crow did not end until the 1970s] or trivialized (deflecting direct responsibility by pointing out that the Africans were selling the slaves to the Europeans, as if that holds any relevance. If not that, but ‘Arabs had African slaves too!’ or ‘Blacks were not the only slaves. White people were slaves too!’ And if not, then of course than ‘well none of you guys are slaves!’)

There is no end to the excuses made. Every time I feel like I’ve heard it all, I learn a new one. There is absolutely no acceptance of wrongdoings. Its not my fault, leave me alone. Stop trying to make me feel “guilty”.

I’ve even read about some disapproving openings of slave museum because it might spark ‘anger’. Why is the history of African enslavement the only event that has ever been censored? I mean its not like this country wasn’t built upon slavery, the free labor of African Americans or anything. But the abundance of Holocaust (an event that did not even occur in the states) museums are okay.

America is such an immature young country. Nobody whines as much as the United States when it comes to facing their own past crimes. In Germany the Nazi flag and salute are banned. You will get arrested. The Confederate flag? Still flying in some places (by the way guys, in case you forgot, you lost).

The fact that the first public apology for slavery did not occur until the late 1990s says it all. This alone makes statements like ‘I’m tired of apologizing for slavery!’ and ‘I’m tired of being punished!’ from White Americans laughable bullshit. You’ve never had to apologize for anything. Not slavery, not Jim Crow, not Tulsa, not Rosewood (an event that was kept secret and not revealed to the public until the 1980s) ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

For all the centuries worth of colonizing, raping, murdering, genocide, self hatred and torture they have done/brought upon other people of the earth, what is this constant ‘punishment’ you keep bringing up? Being made fun of as being bland in comedy stand ups?

What were the repercussions…not being able to freely do those racist things anymore? Not being able to ridicule, harass and/or humiliate black people as openly anymore?

I’d say you guys got off pretty fucking easy.

 While I applaud this post (standing ovation) & agree with it, I find the opening sentence very erasing and offensive to Native American/First Nations people. Yes, we are told ALL THE TIME to “get over” the genocide perpetrated against us and our cultures. And that cultural genocide, in particular, continues today - just as the literal genocide of Black, Brown, Red, bodies continues via the prison industrial complex, school-to-prison pipeline, food deserts, and other systemic ways that all non-white people continue to be marginalized. Native Americans still have the highest rates of rape and highest rates of suicide in this country. And we are still told to “get over it”/”it’s in the past”/”I can’t help what my ancestors did”. I KNOW THAT IT WAS NOT THE INTENTION OF THE OP OR PEOPLE REBLOGGING THIS TO ERASE OUR REALITY. I’m just asking that we all be more thoughtful and careful of absolutes when we write things like this.

(via thesavagesalad)