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Dear White People:
Please
just stop with the white guilt and performative allyship.
I donât need violence by my people to be erased. [1]
I donât need you to shut up because youâre white.
I donât need you to shame other white people on my behalf.
Please
just stop with the white guilt and performative allyship. I donât need violence by my people to be erased. [1]
I donât need you to shut up because youâre white.
I donât need you to shame other white people on my behalf.
I donât need you to apologize because some people with your skin color are overtly racist.
I donât need to be coddled because some people with your skin color are covertly racist.
My grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles got through much worse.
I donât need to be coddled because some people with your skin color are covertly racist.
My grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles got through much worse.
I donât need my voice centered, elevated, or fetishized because of my race and ethnicity.
I want people to listen to me because I have intelligent things to say, not because I am the keeper of ancient wisdom passed down to me by my Asian ancestors 
or because I have some special knowledge as an "oppressedâ minority woman.
or because I have some special knowledge as an "oppressedâ minority woman.
My indigenous Okinawan grandparents worked on a sugar plantation in the Territory of HawaiÊ»i where they were initially denied citizenship & my Japanese family struggled to survive in post-war Tokyo, but my familyâs lived hardships are not more authentic than yours. [2]
Learning is a two-way street. Believe it or not you have things to teach other people. If you knew your familyâs migration history and your genetic ancestry [3], you would have stories of struggle, racism, and discrimination, too.
If you knew your familyâs secrets you would have stories of surviving horrors and rising above hardship.
Shaming other white people does nothing to help marginalized individuals of any race. It is a distraction that polarizes people and leads to further escalation. [4]
Talk to your elders. Learn your familyâs history. [5] Get some genetic testing. Learn where your people came from. Please use that history to find your common humanity with those who you see as different from yourself, including the whites you disdain.
[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_people
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Hawaii
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5014744.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_in_the_Occupation_of_Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_people
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Hawaii
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5014744.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_in_the_Occupation_of_Japan
[4]
https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/guilt_shame
I just came across this website and it looks like a great conflict resolution resource to explore.
https://www.beyondintractability.org/ttdth/things-you-can-do https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1139361964084355072
https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/guilt_shame
I just came across this website and it looks like a great conflict resolution resource to explore.
https://www.beyondintractability.org/ttdth/things-you-can-do https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1139361964084355072
[5]
https://www.library.ucla.edu/destination/center-oral-history-research/resources/conducting-oral-histories-family-members
https://www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/13tips-for-oral-history-interviewing/ https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-07-2013/oral-family-history-tree-stories.html
https://www.library.ucla.edu/destination/center-oral-history-research/resources/conducting-oral-histories-family-members
https://www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/13tips-for-oral-history-interviewing/ https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-07-2013/oral-family-history-tree-stories.html
I drafted this thread in January.
I donât even remember what it was in response to.
I decided it wasnât worth tweeting.
I donât even remember what it was in response to.
I decided it wasnât worth tweeting.
Dug up my draft when I saw a tweet the other day and made some edits.
Decided again that it wasnât worth tweeting.
Decided again that it wasnât worth tweeting.
But itâs time to speak up. I am so so tired of white people claiming to speak on my behalf to shame other white people. I understand that there are minorities who encourage and applaud this behavior. They don't speak for all of us.
I donât believe that this accomplishes anything useful and sustainable in the long run. This kind of online toxicity is tearing communities apart. It is radicalizing a minority of white people.
It is possible to educate without shaming. Without worsening peopleâs mental health. And education must be a two-way street. No one should ever be only a speaker. We must all be speakers and listeners.
Iâm going to leave folks with this. Only 12 mins.
âI was taught that anyone who didn't follow a very narrow idea of what it means to be good was an enemy. Thankfully, I was able to shed those beliefs by being exposed to those I was compelled to judge.â
âI was taught that anyone who didn't follow a very narrow idea of what it means to be good was an enemy. Thankfully, I was able to shed those beliefs by being exposed to those I was compelled to judge.â
I knew this thread might go places but this is more than I expected. 
I have no SoundCloud or book to promote. 
If you liked this thread, please consider supporting local orgs that do deradicalization and bridge building work. They are underfunded. https://twitter.com/wrizal/status/1157316152550404098?s=20
I have no SoundCloud or book to promote. If you liked this thread, please consider supporting local orgs that do deradicalization and bridge building work. They are underfunded. https://twitter.com/wrizal/status/1157316152550404098?s=20
One year follow-up: https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1289698983233765376
