This graphic is now going around on social media:
As pointed out here, the people pushing this are serious. And then they suggest that we must all abide by the strictures recommended in the post if we wish for a better country.
Let’s deconstruct this poppycock.
1. Take up minimal space during anti-racism dialogues and protests. Minimal space? What is that supposed to mean? Should white people who don’t like racism put themselves in mime boxes? Should they take Alice In Wonderland potion? Or better yet, should they simply stop showing up? What’s the big worry here: manspreading? Intimidation of the people who happen not to share a skin color but who share the same ideas regarding politics? I’d recommend that leftists lighten up, but they’d probably construe that as racism somehow.
2. Stop contributing to gentrification and calling it “urban development.” Stop investing in downtrodden areas and building nice homes and shops, people! Keep those downtrodden areas racially segregated. At least they’re historic. The last thing we would want is people in those historic areas to have jobs and safer neighborhoods and nice restaurants. They must be relegated to poverty for the sake of the character of the place.
3. Listen when people call you on your microaggressions. I suppose this means not jumping from the nearest window, which is indeed a sacrifice.
4. Never invite people of color to the table for the sake of claiming diversity. I actually agree with this one: how about we just invite people to the table who are interesting and have knowledge, rather than judging them by their skin color? But you know who doesn’t agree? Hillary Clinton. She actually suggested having a black person to be named later in her cabinet for the sake of claiming diversity.
5. Refrain from using your non-white friends as your “urban dictionary.” Not sure who does this – who turns to their black friend and asks them to decode rap songs? Anybody? Then again, if you actually talk about black cultural hallmarks and you’re not black, you’re accused of whitesplaining or cultural appropriation, so it’s a bit of a Catch 22.
6. Stop lifting up non-confrontational people of color as examples of what POC activism should be. Stop talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. Instead, let’s pretend that the Black Panthers and early Malcolm X were better examples of black liberation, even if they actually resulted in counterproductive backlashes that hurt their causes. It’s not like non-violent resistance actually succeeded or anything.
7. Call your friends, family and co-workers out on racism – even if a POC isn’t in the room. This actually seems like a good idea. Like this post that we’re discussing now. It’s racist.
8. Understand that all anti-racism work doesn’t look the same and advocate accordingly. This means that you should let everybody do what they please, up to and including riots in Ferguson, presumably.
9. Realize that all discussions about race aren’t for you. And be okay with it. You see, if you’re called racist, or if we’re discussing racism, you should shut up. It’s not for you. Yes, it’s about you. Yes, you’re the problem. But be quiet. That’s not racism, you know, to tell white people to shut up when discussing the issues just because they’re white. That’s rejecting white privilege. It’s your privilege to speak, and we have to reject that privilege.
10. Recognize that you’re still racist. No matter what. Well this sort of defeats the purpose of points 1-9. We could just skip to this one, and then do whatever we want anyway, since we’ll never be able to escape our white privilege.
Thanks, leftists, for ensuring that racism lives on, and forcing people to shut up based on their skin color. You’ve done us all a real service.
At least in self-exposing your own moral benightedness.