When I see stuff like this, I recognize it from the many times I've seen it before. She's just a racist. Dassit. Stop looking for some complex-deep thought issue to present itself. She proved it in the clip "you let everybody else do it" - a ref to Target damage during protests. https://twitter.com/karlitaliliana/status/1279886616253751296
I really mean it. All these videos are SO instantly recognizable. I remember hearing these same types of rants in school from WW anytime they felt challenged, especially by a Black person. I've seen them in stores, in banks, in restaurants... they are just racist WW.
Nothing NEW is going on w/these ww. 2 things are happening:
1) They are recording themselves/daring people to record them for attention &
2) They are (per usual) (over)reacting to a PERCEIVED affront to their ability to do whatever TF they want to do. MIND YOU THEY ARE STILL DOING WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO.
Imagine if we as a society extended the kind of "nuance and analytical approach" that white women specifically are afforded to, well, frankly ANY other marginalized part of the population! Imagine it. (I can't actually imagine it - so I'll leave that to you)
Video after video w/all this "something is going on with them" - "what is happening with the ww?" - "what is throwing them into this state?" RACISM + even the HINT that Black folks aren't just going to turn the other cheek forever. That is what has caused their collective "break"
I know every Black person has a story about their mother, or dad or grandparent doing the internal calculations of just letting a white woman get what they want in public or pushing for what is fair. I remember the first time I watched my mother navigate this - I was 6.
It was a line... at Woolworths... (yes I'm that old). I was there getting a treat - a milkshake at the counter. A ww and her two children skipped us in line, just walked right in front of us like we weren't there. I looked up at my Mother & saw a look I hadn't seen before.
She was clearly angry... that much I could see, but also she was thinking, DEEPLY thinking. Looking back now, I know the look - I've had it on my own face plenty of times. It's the "is this worth getting into it with this ww?" look.
In the end - multiple seats became available at the same time and felt my mother's hand relax in mine. As we sat down she whispered "see we got in the same time they did and didn't have to cheat."
Since a few folks have jumped in to let me know that people can be racist and have a mental illness... thanks, had not occurred to me prior to your tweets (insert sarcasm). The point of this thread is about where, when & how we societally apply empathy.
Either of those Target employees could also have a mental illness - certainly not made better by this woman's behavior if they did... and yet, here I am answering why this ww and her needs shouldn't be centered when she is the bad actor in the situation. SIGH.
Y'all must think Black folks aren't affected by these outbursts of white entitlement on a regular basis?! That it doesn't effect our own mental health? That we don't have A LOT of psychological trauma from a lifetime of living in this society? Lawd.
Here is thread I wrote FOUR YEARS AGO about the trials of living in this white supremacist country where even going the movies will be interrupted by racism, or going to the gym, or getting ice cream with your kids, or working at fucking Target to pay your bills.
Which brings my back to my the Woolworth's with my mother. What if multiple seats had not come available - what were her choices in 1980's Brooklyn?
1) Confront the ww and let her know we were in line - kind of crap shoot cuz you never know what kind of ww this is. My mom had her child with her, this was too risky.
2) Talk to the staff at the Woolworth's and let THEM know we were in line first. Another calculated gamble, would they bring the ww into this bringing the 1st option into play? Hard to know.
3) Say nothing and wait longer - leaving me her very bright 6 year old to wonder why we weren't next and what she was going to tell me about it... because SHE KNEW I WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING - I was THAT kind of kid. This is a demoralizing and heartbreaking choice.
4) Leave. Literally just walk out. We did that SO MANY TIMES growing up. An abrupt, "we are leaving!" with no warning sound. it wasn't until I got older that I recognized that move, I pull it all the time. Often the only viable option because white supremacy sucks.
Anyway - let's start pushing ourselves to think about the mental stability and needs of the people being SUBJECTED to the behavior of these white women BEFORE speculating on the needs of the ww in question. It would be refreshing for us all.
Realizing the thread I referenced early wasn't linked. https://twitter.com/LeslieMac/status/756998523128799232?s=20
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