A thread on white people who like to weaponize Black people who support their views.

As a woman deemed white who is seeking to dismantle racism, I think it’s very important that I do not speak out against Black people- even when I see them peddling white supremacist ideology. It’s not my lane (and if you’re deemed white- it ain’t your lane either).

Every few weeks a white person will DM me a video or share a post from 1 or 2 of the 5 outspoken Black right-wing influencers. And every few weeks, I swear, take a deep breath, engage the points, and do so without a single critique of said influencer.

While people are delivering these messages, it’s not about the people as much as the ideology.

After years of engaging and arguing the same old talking points, I’ve moved from patient and long-suffering to disgusted and sick.

The words of these influencers cause so much pain and heartache, and watching white people hide behind them like they’re not the people saying the thing is equal parts infuriating and heart-breaking.

Infuriating because it’s cowardly and racist, heart-breaking because it causes so much pain. It’s traumatizing, demoralizing, and a dangerous weapon in the minds of white people...who will remain hardened, entitled, and unmoved in the face of injustice because “ _____ said it”

The sad fact is these white people would rather have their ears tickled and their racism coddled. They would rather hide behind racism being peddled by the few Black people whiteness has deemed exceptional instead of critically engaging the humanity of others.

These white people think they’ve found the “few brave voices” who will speak out against what they’ve been trained to see as group think... not grasping how racist it is to assume Black ppl are prone to vote a certain way for any reason other than informed engagement.

What they’ve really found is cover for their racism and anti-Blackness.

But while I say all of this, I have to remember that they are me and I am them. That while I may not find comfort hiding behind racist ideology being peddled by Black people, I do find comfort in other things. That while I am divesting from whiteness, it is still embedded in me

They are me and I am them, and while I’ve done a lot of work to divest from whiteness, the farther I get from it the easier it is for me to see myself in “those white people.”

So I will use this clarity to continue doing my internal work and push forward “getting my people,” speaking against ideologies of oppression, and tearing the whole damn system to the ground.