mekka okereke Dec 26, 2022

One of the most influential rap songs of all time (Ether) contained a homophobic slur. Nas took a lot of criticism for this decades later. So he now performs the song without the slur👍🏿

Lizzo released a track with an ableist slur. She took heat for this on Twitter too. She apologized, and re-cut the song without the slur👍🏿

Conversations about what a person said, are valid.

You don't get "cancelled" for mis-speaking. It's the doubling down.

*edit: Nas didn't re-release. There's a clean version.

Show threadmekka okereke Dec 26, 2022

I really don't care if QTs happen on this site, or don't happen. What's much more informative and important to me, is how this conversation is unfolding, and what is prioritized. I've heard everything from "The Black perspective isn't real" to "You Twitter refugees!" from folks with account create dates in November, talking to Black folk here since 2017🤷🏿‍♂️

People are talking about QTs the same way they talk about 4chan and Kiwi farms. I don't know how to explain to people how ridiculous that is.

Show threadmekka okereke Dec 26, 2022

There are valid reasons to have QTs and to not have them. Safety is a valid concern. But this prioritization of fake civility, is not good at all. This ignoring the Black perspective, is also no good.

There are folks more upset at @QasimRashid for sharing how migrants were harmed and put in real danger on Christmas Eve, than they are upset at Abbott for doing the harming. In some folks' eyes, the bigger misstep is Qasim harshing the Christmas vibes. I don't know how to explain that this is bad.

Show threadmekka okereke Dec 26, 2022

I've told folks for years, that I'm not that concerned about the Nazis, because they're not the problem. Don't focus on the Nazis. Focus on the white folk that you have around you when the Nazis show up.

So consider this permission to unfollow. It's cool! Honestly. I don't judge anyone for wanting to ignore all the pain in the world, and not wanting to do anything about it. I post about racism, transphobia, and sexism, and more specifically, actions we can take to reduce them.

Show threadmekka okereke Dec 26, 2022

There are literally hundreds of millions of white folk that do want to hear about ways we can reduce all of those bad things. I work with them. We don't need everyone on every issue. It's cool.

But don't ask me "What do you mean Mastodon is not welcoming to Black folk?" And then in the very next breath, say, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure Black folk are mistreated, but I don't want to hear about it! CW that garbage! It's making me sad!" Just be real, and only say the second part.

Show threadmekka okereke 

"Racism is so bad?! I didn't know!" Is a cop out. It's a crime in two parts. The first part is intentional actions that people take to make sure that they don't know how bad the racism is.

Sometimes it's in 3 parts. Party A makes sure that Party B doesn't know how bad the racism is. Then party B can happily enjoy life while party C is brutalized. That's the whole CRT debate, and the Texas board of education in a nutshell.

Willfull ignorance is not the same as innocence.

Dec 26, 2022 at 2:06amWeb
Show threadKim Crayton ~ Her/SheDec 26, 2022
@QasimRashid @mekkaokereke I’ve now started calling it “strategic ignorance” because that’s how it manifests…it’s not just an unwillingness to learn, it’s using ignorance as a strategy to avoid consequences; accountability for harmful behavior
Show threadJeffDec 26, 2022
@KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke The system is definitely designed to ensure that ignorance, but even still, the only way to not see the problem is to convince yourself you've never seen it. It is shamefully willful.
Show threadteachermugaboDec 26, 2022
@blueberrywerewolf @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke you can tell it is strategic the moment things get uncomfortable.
Show threadJon (now at neuromatch.social)Dec 26, 2022
@KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke On a similar note I remember Kara Swisher (I think) talking about how she didn't like the term "unconscious bias" because after the first dozen or so times it's been pointed out to a person, just how unconscious is it really?
Show threadFrank VehafricDec 26, 2022
@jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke I always thought that "unconscious bias" was just a strategy to get white people talking about bias without becoming immediately defensive.
Show threadMal 甄/kalessin/PeriDec 26, 2022
@fvehafric @jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @mekkaokereke I'm an anti racism activist, advocate, educator, wrier. Been one, sometimes paid, for at least 20 years. Perhaps longer. I'm 54. I'm also non-Black #BIPoC. Honestly, at this point, it's more important to me to know any random white person is going to get defensive (so I can stop working with/on them) than to try to coddle them. So I usually just go hard most of the time.
Show threadFifi LamouraDec 26, 2022

@fvehafric @jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke My particular favorite bit of White ignorance framing is how studies showing that people notice skin colour before other things like gender are used as proof of unconscious bias and racism being so deep and "instinctual" that it can't be helped.

This is very fucked up and racist framing because it's not noticing difference that's the problem, people are different and that's a glorious thing to notice and it's essential to seeing someone fully in fact. The racism (or other knds o bigotry) isn't in the noticing of difference, it's in the assigning negative value to someone based on their difference. That's shit you do AFTER you notice the difference.

Show threadDebbie SeltzerDec 26, 2022

@fifilamoura @fvehafric @jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke

There's a whole body of evidence on the ways in which so-called bias training in schools (for teachers, admin, and staff) can actually deepen bias when it's handled as described above: something natural and thus entirely justified.

Show threadML2Dec 27, 2022

@fifilamoura
Isn't "unconscious bias" one of those things that Robin DiAngelo talks about? IIRC she also says racism can't be fixed.

(TBH I honestly can't tell if DiAngelo is mistaken, lying, or both. If anyone has insight into that, please let me know.)

@fvehafric @jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke

Show threadJon (now at neuromatch.social)Dec 27, 2022

@mathlover @fifilamoura @fvehafric @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke

"The Trouble with White Fragility Discourse" (by Anthony Conwright on AAPF's site) makes some very good points about DiAngelo's approach.
https://www.aapf.org/theforum-white-fragility-discourse

Here's a good look at the problems of unconscious bias training by Tiffany L. Green and Nao Hagiwara -- it's got links out to some of the body of evidence that @PragmatistProf mentioned.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-implicit-bias-training/

The Trouble with White Fragility Discourse | The Forum

Why HR divisions can’t be on the vanguard of racial reform. By Anthony Conwright.

AAPF
Show threadML2Dec 27, 2022
@jdp23
Thanks! I will read this! @fifilamoura @fvehafric @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke @PragmatistProf
Show threadJohn LuskJan 5, 2023
@jdp23
Bookmarked and read. This whole web site (aapf.org) looks like a good resource.
@mathlover @fifilamoura @fvehafric @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke @PragmatistProf
Show threadJon (now at neuromatch.social)Jan 5, 2023
@tarheel @mathlover @fifilamoura @fvehafric @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke @PragmatistProf yes that's a great site. Kimberlé Crenshaw, who runs AAPF, so I think it's safe to say they really get intersectionality and critical race theory! Her "Intersectionality Matters" podcast is great too.
Show threadKim Crayton ~ Her/SheJan 5, 2023
@jdp23 @[email protected] @fifilamoura @fvehafric @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke @PragmatistProf
Thanks for sharing given that you know that I find the "white fragility" discourse beyond problematic and why I no longer recommend it as resource of any kind, particularly to white folx
Show threadJon (now at neuromatch.social)Jan 5, 2023
@KimCrayton1 @fifilamoura @fvehafric @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke @PragmatistProf Yep. It's a challenge because the highest-profile critiques come from right-wingers so badly miss the point of why it's problematic ... so many progressives see "oh, right-wingers don't like it, it must be good!"
Show threadRussell NechesDec 26, 2022
@jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke Unless you are a psychologist speaking in a professional capacity, "unconscious" is just a way to say "unacknowledged" while offering the person so described a fig-leaf behind which to preserve some of their ego. It should only be used in situations where there is some realistic hope that the person might be willing to grow.
Show threadMal 甄/kalessin/PeriDec 26, 2022
@ryneches @jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @mekkaokereke yes. Ime, 99% or more of white strangers will never be willing to own up or grow.
Show threadJonKramer, CIS-HETDec 26, 2022
@jdp23 @KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke interesting. I have a personal example. Before COVID, the suicide rate in Japan was higher than the murder AND suicide rates combined in the USA. Something often overlooked when discussing society and crime. Since COVID, that is no longer true. Both murder and suicide rates increased in the USA. But, if presented with certain key arguments in a discussion, I will refer to that fact. Sometimes, I even state it before I remember the facts have changed. It is not a conscious attempt to deceive. And although I know better now, I still use old data if only internally and true to justify the use of that data. Often, I correct myself in 1/10ths of a second and do not state the data in an argument. But I THINK it.
Show threadNathanDec 26, 2022
@KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke Reminds me of the "Know Nothing Party" of the 1850s.
Show threadLaura J MixonDec 26, 2022
@KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke I used to use “malign innocence” to try to get at the lengths white people will go to, to avoid seeing the racism that is right in front of their nose. But strategic ignorance is a much better way to describe it. It’s infuriating af.
Show threadelizabeth veldonDec 26, 2022
@KimCrayton1 @QasimRashid @mekkaokereke in social epistemology this is called '“an epistemology of ignorance”
Show threadKim Crayton ~ Her/SheDec 26, 2022

@mekkaokereke @elizabethveldon @QasimRashid thank you for sharing

After researching, I don’t agree that “strategic ignorance”, as I define it and “epistemology of ignorance” are the same but rather two-sides of the same coin and the distinctions are important to understand because it helps accurately inform future strategy for addressing it

Show threadKim Crayton ~ Her/SheDec 26, 2022

@mekkaokereke @elizabethveldon @QasimRashid

“Epistemology of ignorance” is at the systems, institutions, and policies level, where a collective understanding and agreement is made, consciously or otherwise, to “rewrite history”; it provides cover for “good white folx” while “strategic ignorance” is at the personal choice level; it’s an individual making decisions; taking action to avoid being held accountable by actively avoiding “enlightenment”

Show threadKim Crayton ~ Her/SheDec 26, 2022

@mekkaokereke @elizabethveldon @QasimRashid

the former provides the permission structure of passivity on the individual level and while the latter reinforces the systems, institutions, and policies…it’s a symbiotic relationship…it’s not a binary; an “or” but rather an “and”

Show threadKim Crayton ~ Her/SheDec 26, 2022

@mekkaokereke @elizabethveldon @QasimRashid

It’s this symbiotic relationship that individual white folx have with the systems, institutions, and policies of whiteness which maintain and perpetuate white supremacy and anti-Blackness for future generations

Show threadelizabeth veldonDec 26, 2022
@KimCrayton1 @mekkaokereke @QasimRashid yes, i think you are spot on.
Show threadGuy who's trying his best :(Dec 26, 2022

@mekkaokereke "Willfull ignorance is not the same as innocence."

People often use "innocent" "ignorant" and "naive" as the same thing. They aren't. IMO "naive" is not knowing, "ignorant" is refusing to know, and "innocent" is not participating. It really grinds my gears when people interchange them.

Pedantic rant over, sorry

Show threadKat FollandDec 26, 2022
@OpenComputeDesign As someone who doesn't believe in synonyms, I appreciate your "rant". :)
Show threadErika BarthelmessDec 26, 2022
@mekkaokereke I appreciate every comment and this whole thread.
Show threadSandaBlueDeuxDec 26, 2022
@mekkaokereke Great thread. Thank you
Show threadQasim Rashid, Esq.Dec 27, 2022
@mekkaokereke great thread brother. Well said. Powerful. ❤️✊🏽