Keeping an eye on this #Mastodon #accessibility issue: wouldn't it be great to have an ALT button on images to be able to easily determine that an image has alt text and to access that text without having to 'inspect element'?

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/18394

Hi ppl (especially white ppl), sorry to call your attention again, but there's currently a lot of infighting here about a very particular topic:

Black people posting their (obviously bad) experiences with racism and not CW'ing them. Well, we SHOULD allow them to do that and here's why:

You first learned that the rule was to CW racism. Here's some news: That was the simple version. The full version is a little more complicated.

The thing about CWs is that they were created with vulnerable / marginalized communities in mind.

• CWs help (some) autistic / neurodivergent folks avoid eye contact
• CWs help Black ppl avoid racist content
• CWs help people with eating disorders avoid food content
• CWs help people who experienced school shootings avoid talk about school shootings

In other words, CWs were designed to protect marginalized communities from oppressive content.

That's the whole point.

The problem is when white people (even those belonging to one marginalized community) start policing Black people (a VERY marginalized community) about using content warnings.

Yes, rules were written for a reason, but unfortunately people put the rules in a pedestal and forget about the reason. (Don't confuse the Letter of the Law with the Spirit of the Law)

So what happens with racism is that it has practically become part of the daily life of Black people. Then they come here to vent about their problems, and suddenly they're harassed by racists (not necessarily Nazis, but your average white folks who are too full of themselves to notice when they're being racist - and unfortunately there's too many in here).

So they complain that there's racism in here.

Now imagine the ridiculousness of this.

The post: "Guys I was just harassed by white folks on here what's going on with all the racist bullshit?"

The replies (in droves):

• "Please CW your shit don't you know the rules in here?"
• "Hey, don't you read the rules? All racism content must be CW'd!"
• "If you don't like our culture, find another server."
• "CWs were created for a reason, you are warned."

... and so on, and on, and on, and on.

(and then you wonder why #BlackMastodon instances defederate from everyone)

And unfortunately because the language is too similar to what we've been doing for several days to white folks, we don't notice how racist this is when done to Black folks.

This is the place supposed to be welcoming for all, and our CW absolutism is turning it into a nightmare for Black people.

Add to that:

• "Not all white people" (remember "not all men"?)
• "I don't see racism in here"
• "Have you tried using the block button?"
• "You're exaggerating / overreacting"
• "Oh we're so sorry that's awful in the name of everyone here" (this one is well intentioned but does absolutely nothing to solve the problem and gets tiring after the 10,000th time)

To summarize:

1) No, the Fediverse is NOT free from racism and we all need to work on that. And yes, casual racsm is a thing.

2) Racism can take many forms, and using CWs as an excuse to harass Black people is one of them and it happens A LOT.

3) Never, EVER tell a Black person that you don't see racism in your timeline or your server (have you ever taken sensitivity courses in your college?)

4) Black and Indigenous People of color, as well as other marginalized communities, ARE INDEED allowed to talk about racism and/or their personal experiences with oppression without Content Warnings, and ONLY members of the same marginalized community have the right to call them out on not using CWs. Are you part of that community? No? Suck it up.

If you're white (or otherwise non-Black but your personal experiences with racism are not as bad as the "offending" post), then no, you personally do NOT have the right to police Black people's posts.

See, when a BIPOC is talking in a convention about racism, you don't have permission to grab their microphone and say "Excuse me, but...". Do your part and don't add fuel to the fire.

5) If a particular disturbing experience of oppression told by a marginalized folk upsets you, feel free to temporarily mute. Don't like the reality you're living in as a privileged person who has never experienced racial oppression in their own flesh? Then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT instead of just burying your head in the sand. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

(And if you're offended by "Critical race theory" and think "the wokes" are out there to brainwash your kids making them feel guilty for being white or something, then YOU ARE THE PROBLEM and are in serious need of a dose of reality.)

6) Black folks are constantly harassed by racists in here, take that in mind when taking to them. Don't judge oppressed people for not being polite enough so you could "help them". Just listen to yourself.

7) Just because you belong to a marginalized community does NOT give you an excuse to oppress a different marginalized community. Autists can be racist, white trans folk can be racist, you get the point. DO NOT use your pride flag as a license to be an ass. Don't believe me? Look up "intersectionality". It'll blow your mind.

8) If a Black person tells you that something someone (especially a friend of yours) did is racism, IT IS RACISM. Period. Don't excuse the other person, don't tell them they're misinterpreting things, just... just don't. No questions. Just SHUT. UP. AND. LISTEN. When in doubt, apologize.

9) For the love of everything holy, if a BIPOC posts something and says "only BIPOC people can reply", if you're white, DO NOT REPLY! (double facepalm)

Racism, anti-Blackness in particular, is something that this place is not exempt of. As I said, casual racism is too common in here, and unfortunately it's not very visible to white folks because they're not the targets.

Everybody needs to cooperate.

Thank you.

(EDIT: Removed a couple of statements that were offending to non-black people who were also racially oppressed; that was not the intent of my post and I apologize)

#psa #antiBlackness #racism #onHere