something I frequently hear from non-Natives “I don’t understand how _____ harms Natives.”

You don’t have to understand it. You just need to believe us when we tell you something is harmful. It’s not for you to determine & it doesn’t matter if you understand it, just respect us

we don’t have to explain the exact mechanisms of it to you. if we ask you not to do something, if we tell you that you don’t have permission or consent, that is enough justification for you to stop. we do not need to explain to you why we feel this way for you to respect it.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it. It’s not about you. You don’t get to decide what honors us. Ever. No exceptions.

Us saying “no” is all the justification needed for you to stop. We do not have to explain that “no” to you.

This applies to all marginalized communities too. If the community says no, we respect it. We don’t get to demand they explain to us why they said no, we don’t get to decide their explanation isn’t “good enough.” Respect consent.

And it honestly takes no effort to respect people’s “no’s.” So there really is no reason for so many people to get angry about this or refuse to do it. It is literally so easy to be respectful, quit acting like it’s too much to ask.

PS, us saying “your opinion doesn’t matter” is not infringing upon your free speech. the first amendment says you won’t go to jail for it, it doesn’t say that the rest of us have to care or listen to you, it doesn’t say the rest of us aren’t allowed to call you an asshole for it.