I have to eat dinner and junk, but after I do and I clean up while formulating my thoughts as best I can I have some shit to say about the fact that CoSo is in fact SoWhite and my fellow white people here are responding to the SCRIPT when called out on it.
See you soon.
If you mute or block me beforehand that's okay.
Heaven forfend we're uncomfortable.
#HashtagHere
I am doing this because y'all just drove one of my favorite human beings on here to take a break.
We all.
White people are the majority here, moreso than on this planet.
One of my favorite people just had to excuse herself politely, despite the fact that she shouldn't have to be polite.
So we're going to have what they call A Come To Jesus discussion here in the South that a ton of white people here are comfortable letting suffer.
I'm not done dinner but my family is.
So I'm going to take bites between posts.
Have you ever looked at the Firehose and seen how white it is?
It's natural if you didn't notice.
Last October a lot of Black Twitter started feeling out other platforms and many of these people left here quickly.
Why?
Because it's white AF and wasn't a safe space. So let's take a moment to discuss safe spaces for Black people and other people of color in social media after I take a bite of my food.
People said that the racism conversation around CounterSocial should continue today and I agree. We'll get to the point.
So imagine that you're a person who has been historically unwelcome or forcibly removed from white spaces.
How do you think you would feel if you were trying to leave the space of a South African emerald slaver and you walked into a bottle of milk, essentially.
Yeah. CoSo is that white.
Yesterday I watched white people here become more offended by the idea that they might be considered racist than they were by the daily racism that goes on here.
And then white people decided to make this a test for themselves.
That's unnecessary.
You don't have to discuss racism in depth every day.
You just have to NOT BE RACIST.
Racism is not simply the Klan or using slurs.
It's absolutely being an HOA adjacent individual who polices activity and decor.
If you claim to be an ally and then sit here calling life experience politics? That's inherent racism.
And bigotry.
It's from a place of comfort where you'd rather not have to see these things.
Other people live these things.
You're never going to get a larger number of members here who are not white people until the white people here become safe.
And no, white people. You're not going to be successful inviting your Black friends.
The few Black members of CoSo will spread the word when and if they feel safe enough.
So don't sit around discussing racism like it's a book club.
Just DO THE WORK.
Make it a safe place.
And accept that you can't force shit.
@Shelter I am painfully aware that in my endeavour to be supportive and a genuine ally, I contributed to the problem yesterday.
I'll keep trying to do better.
@stueytheround @Shelter To admit error is the biggest step toward correction and preventing repetition. 🙂👍
@Shelter Since the terrorist assassination of George Floyd I’ve been trying to STFU and listen and learn… and I pretty much learn something new every time. (Boomer)
@Shelter …what I’m trying to say is I’m willing to listen
@Shelter I drank a nice big glass of shut the fuck up about 36 hours ago and will leave it at that.
Your glass of STFU is fine until white people act like dingdongs, and then you get to barf it at them.
@Shelter Although I haven’t actively looked at previous convos, I’ll be ready to begin barf duty.
@Shelter You're making a lot of blanket declarations about this entire platform, and frankly it's super uncool.
Oh no.
@Shelter
“ It's absolutely being an HOA adjacent individual who polices activity and decor.
If you claim to be an ally and then sit here calling life experience politics? That's inherent racism.”
💯
when you are inundated daily with the outrageous, speaking of it is not farming
@kel My friend, I don't know if you saw the conversation this thread refers to, but the points made are very valid.
Coso *is* 99+ percent white and black folk *have* expressed feeling unsafe here. White folk *have* criticised bipoc for speaking their truth, including harrassing them for not using hashtags. I know. I've been one of them before and I've watched it happen in the last 24 hours.
So while it might seem to you to be blanket statements, the points and advice are solid.
@Shelter
@stueytheround Not going to bite. I take great offense at being lumped in with racists.
There's nothing I can say that will contribute to this conversation in any kind of meaningful way. ✌️@Shelter
@kel Nobody lumped you in with anyone and I'm not looking for a debate.
I'm telling you you're mistaken.
Ignore or take it on board. That's fine.
That sounds great except for the fact that you are asking Black people to do the work that white people are perfectly capable of doing themselves.
@Shelter oh boy.. I missed all of this. Is she ok?
Not only is CoSo overwhelmingly white- but it's also overwhelmingly white people who call themselves allies except for when it makes them uncomfortable.
Don't use those words.
Please hashtag.
We welcome you! Just don't BE you.
That really fucking sucks, folks.
So THEN, a Black woman dared to start a conversation about this and white people white peopled.