I think it's really important for immigrant voices to speak out. There are definitely problems with the ways that immigrants are treated in the US and the black community here could do better.

I'm really disturbed however that somehow Racism as a system in the world is being https://twitter.com/amuta_ann/status/1275454808359489536

conflated with intergroup relations and xenophobia more generally. To my eye it shows a fundamental misunderstanding in how racism works.

1) Racism is about a lot more than people just making fun of you or not being nice to you in school. If that's what racism was we could

easily prepare black kids for what they have to face. Rather, we are talking about a centuries old institution that was a part of America's founding. There are effects that stay with us to this day in wealth, income, housing, incarceration rates, health outcomes, etc. etc. etc.

2) The fact that white supremacy/discrimination are somehow put into a one to one relationship with supposed "black discrimination" is bothersome. Black discrimination does not result in black people being killed and incarcerated at higher rates. It does not determine job/career

outcomes or life expectancy. It is NOT the same and should not be presented as such.

3) Talking about privilege and intergroup relations and how power shifts and how minorities do damage to each other is a very fascinating topic. I'm an immigrant myself and I'm

very much against xenophobia. But some of this we can chalk up to children and teens growing up picking on differences. People came after me for any weakness they could find. The way I talked, the fact I was from Panama, my height, etc. That is not intrinsic to the black American

community. At no point did I face structural barriers from becoming a part of the black American community. 4) I've taken some ribbing and I've had to educate people a couple many times on blacks outside of America but I'm not comparing discrimination I've faced within the black

community to racism. 5) When considering intergroup relations we also have to be fair and analyze how these things are situational. A black American may go after an African for their accent or their food but I've also seen that go the other way. I've seen Africans look down on

black Americans for a lack of education or for not knowing about their ancestry well enough etc. Sometimes Africans will tag team with whites against blacks. These are all situational experiences. They depend on the individual and the power dynamics involved. They also do not all

flow in one direction. 6) None of this is meant to say that there are not issues that should be addressed. But things like conflating this discrimination with racism will not get us there. We need to be a bit more nuanced in our conversations. I would also hope that in the end

the takeaway is not some kind of African supremacy. I see that in a lot of the comments. People are just trying to prove that black Americans are inferior. That is not helpful or getting us anywhere.