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.

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.

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.

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.

@mekkaokereke

I see you joined on Nov. 22.

Less than a year ago I commented rather bitterly that Mastodon looked like a bunch of navel gazers. It seemed basically impossible to sink my teeth into any issues, and I am passionate about several. Just about all there was consisted of some bot feeds from birdsite.

My M. use up to that point was sporadic for that reason.

@mekkaokereke

I would say that experience is typical of M. account holders. Active users were few and far between. There was potential & some art communities, not much more.

OTOH, you're part of the large wave birdsite migrants ppl like me were trying to create. And now pre-November M.'s character is being framed as this all-important crucible. But from my perspective, your wave is the crucible.

@mekkaokereke

TBPH, I'm not sure who's disinterest (incl. yours) is more noteworthy. Suddenly you like the idea of fediverse (where many of us intentionally sought out decentralized systems years ago), but you don't like the working-class whiteness that barely existed here and ran on the thinnest of shoestring budgets until October. And now here you are with 11,000 followers from Twitter. Congratulations, your trauma is duly noted.

@tasket

🤔 Where did I say "working class whiteness?"

As I've said, poor white folk have more Black friends than rich white folk. Poor white folk are less racist than rich white folk. The richer a white person, the more likely they are to have voted for Trump. The "college educated white folk are less racist!" is a sleight of hand to sidestep that in the US, business owners are rich, and most business owners are not college grads. Jan 6 was rich folk.

I like working class whiteness.

@mekkaokereke

The aversion to working class whiteness is my interpretation of the situation. Pre-October Mastodon had zero chance of becoming AA-welcoming without many AA ppl showing up due to an interest in federated systems (something that didn't happen). What probably would have occurred from an almost zero-budget effort to attract AA interest would probably have set off a firestorm (on Twitter, FB) about weird furry berniebros misappropriating and "helping when you're not asked".

@mekkaokereke

I'm not saying this is how you would have reacted personally. But as it turns out, the daily exhortations about M. racism are still there and yet there's at least one popular & fully federated instance that prohibits images of 2 men kissing unless they are both wearing pants down below the knee – regardless of CWs. I don't see any firestorm and daily lashings over that.