I made a video a couple weeks ago over on my YouTube channel about cancel culture and forming your own opinions. But I wanted to clarify something based on all the events surrounding the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black men and women at the hands of police: there’s a major difference between forming and having your own opinions, and choosing to be ignorant.
If you’re going around countering Black Lives Matter with “all lives matter”; if you’re refuting the Black experience with comments like “you’re just seeing what you want to see” or “maybe you misunderstood what happened and it wasn’t actually racist”; if you’re saying “not all cops are bad”; you are choosing ignorance and reinforcing systemic racism that silences Black voices. There’s a difference between forming your own opinions like being able to entertain an idea without accepting it (as I quoted from Aristotle)—and encouraging racism.
Having an opinion about whether I as a woman should text first or make the first move is entirely different than someone deciding that Black people should stop “overreacting” and “stop doing things to get shot at by the police.” You are choosing to uphold a system that we white people created for centuries that puts Black people at the bottom of the racial totem pole. You are choosing to put your feelings of discomfort before Black people demanding justice, to LIVE, and to THRIVE. You are advocating for “good cops” instead of demanding that police and white vigilantes STOP MURDERING BLACK PEOPLE.
When I said in that video that we need to be open to other perspectives so we can be innovative and form new ideas—racism is not one of those "perspectives" to be open to. At all. The only reason we should listen to racist views is to counter them fervently, and without end. We should give the facts surrounding the abnormally high incarceration of Black men in America; how 1 in 3 Black men will experience prison time as opposed to 1 in 20 white men (as cited in the documentary "13th", directed by Ava DuVernay). We should explain that micro-aggressions are a form a racism, and are just as unacceptable as a member of the KKK ranting about the superiority of the white race. Racism, in all of its forms, is unacceptable.
Go ahead and offer your perspectives on dieting; hair care; skin care; how to write a kick ass essay; how to date men; how to date women; how to improve your wardrobe; how to improve your self-esteem; how to do your makeup; how to be vegan; how to be raw vegan; how to be paleo; how to do the keto diet; how to save money; how to make more money; how to travel more efficiently; how to meal plan; how to get people to vote; how to start your own business; how to educate yourself; but do not ever think that having racist ideologies is “just offering your perspective/opinion.” That is not an opinion. That is not a perspective. That is hatred that contributes to the harassment, incarceration, stigmatization, subjugation, and MURDER of Black people.
In my aforementioned video, I mention how there are ideas circulating constantly involving gender, identity, race, sex, and so on - and that we need to listen to different perspectives to be innovative in these ideas, without making someone feel bad for not being an expert in each of those subjects. There’s a difference between not knowing something and actively learning, and not knowing something by choosing ignorance. There’s a difference between me not knowing much about the transgender community and learning about that community so I’m more informed, and me not knowing much about the trans community and saying things like “God who cares which pronoun I use”, or other ignorant comments.
If you don’t know a lot about a certain community or underrepresented/subjugated group, but you are actively learning, listening, and taking in new information—keep going. Keep staying informed and accept constructive criticism in order to grow. But if you are choosing to remain ignorant, to remain hateful, to uphold systems that subjugate certain groups—you do not get to have any sort of opinion.
I know I didn’t emphasize or explain that enough in my video, so I wanted to make it clear that I do not condone any sort of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or any sort of hatred that subjugates another group. Share your perspectives on diets, hair care, skin care, etc. (as mentioned above); do not share your racist ideology. If you ever do on my Instagram, blog, or YouTube channel—you will receive one hell of a message from me. If you reply with more vitriol, you’re getting blocked. It’s especially important for us white people to stand up against racism—so if you see or hear it, speak up. If harassment continues, block and report.
Continue learning. Continue listening. Continue educating yourselves. Donate, sign petitions, call your representatives, and VOTE. Speak out against racism.
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