don't you just love it when a white person tries to tell you that they understand the struggle of being a poc? or, that life is hard for everyone and it shouldn't matter about skin color.
excuse me but, DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE YOUR WHITE STRUGGLES TO MINE
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT'S LIKE WATCHING THE NEWS OR GOING ONLINE AND SEEING THAT ANOTHER INNOCENT BLACK PERSON'S LIFE HAS BEEN TAKEN BY PEOPLE THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE BEING IN CONSTANT FEAR WHENEVER A POLICE OFFICER PASSES BY.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE PRAYING EVERY NIGHT THAT NEITHER ME, NOR MY FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS WILL HAVE THEIR NAME BECOME ANOTHER HASHTAG.
YOU DON'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE HAVING SOMEONE ELSE NOT WANT TO DATE ME, EVEN PEOPLE OF MY OWN RACE BECAUSE MY SKIN IS DARK AND THE MEDIA LOVES PORTRAYING DARKSKINNED WOMEN AS UGLY AND RATCHET. CALLING US "HOES" THAT ARE ONLY GOOD AT TWERKING AND EATING FRIED CHICKEN.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE BEING THE ONLY BLACK KID, OR ONE OF THE FEW BLACK KIDS IN CLASS AND HAVING EVERYONE STARING AT YOU WHENEVER THERE'S A CONVERSATION ABOUT RACISM.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE HAVING MY CULTURE APPROPRIATED AND WHENEVER I WEAR DREADS, I LOOK UNPROFESSIONAL AND "GHETTO," BUT WHEN A WHITE GIRL DOES IT, EVERYONE PRAISES HER AND BECOMES A NEW FASHION TREND THE FASHION INDUSTRY CONSIDERS IT AS "INDIE" AND "CHIC."
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE WISHING THAT YOU COULD WASH AWAY YOUR DARKNESS AND HOW YOU HATE YOUR OWN SKIN BECAUSE IT ISN'T PALE. YOU WISH THAT YOU COULD RIP YOUR SKIN OFF AND SOMETIMES IN THE SHOWER, YOU SCRUB IT SO HARD THINKING THAT IT'S GOING TO GO AWAY AND YOU'LL BE LIGHTER. BUT, ONCE YOU REALIZE THAT IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, YOU CRY AND CRY AND CRY.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU HATE YOUR HAIR SO MUCH AND WISHING THAT YOU HAD A DIFFERENT HAIR TEXTURE. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT'S LIKE HAVING PEOPLE TOUCH YOUR HAIR BECAUSE THEY THINK IT'S SO "EXOTIC" AND HAVING TO SPEND HOURS DOING IT AND BEING CALLED "NAPPY."
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW SOMETIMES I JUST WANT TO RIP MY HAIR OUT OF MY SCALP AND I CRY BECAUSE MY HAIR ISN'T BLONDE OR LONG OR LIKE MY WHITE FRIEND'S HAIR. YOU DON'T GET HOW MUCH I HATE MY CURLS BECAUSE MY HAIR TEXTURE IS 4C INSTEAD OF 3A.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE HAVING PEOPLE TELL YOU TO GO BACK TO THE COUNTRY YOU CAME FROM OR DISCRIMINATING YOU FOR YOUR RELIGION AND CALLING YOU A TERRORIST.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE BEING CONSIDERED "NOT BLACK ENOUGH" BECAUSE YOU BARELY LISTEN TO RAP OR BECAUSE YOU DON'T USE AAVE. AND HAVING PEOPLE CONSIDER YOU AS AN "OREO." YOU DON'T KNOW HOW ANNOYING IT IS NOT BEING ACCEPTED BY SOME OF YOUR BLACK FRIENDS AND PEOPLE THINKING THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO "ACT WHITE."
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH IT SUCKS WHEN YOU'RE READING A BOOK OR WATCHING A TV SHOW OR MOVIE AND SEEING ONLY WHITE CHARACTERS OR ONLY LIKE ONE POC WHO USUALLY FOLLOWS A CERTAIN STEREOTYPE. LIKE THE WHOLE "LATINO DRUG LORD" OR THE "BLACK CRIMINAL."
AND USUALLY THE BLACK PERSON IS ALWAYS LIGHTSKINNED. ESPECIALLY IF SHE'S A WOMEN BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD IS SO CORRUPT AND WHITEWASHED.
ALSO, THE WHITEWASHING OF CHARACTERS THAT ARE DESCRIBED AS HAVING DARKER SKIN AND ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A POC, LIKE KATNISS EVERDEEN.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE NOT BEING REPRESENTED IN THE MEDIA. LIKE, THE OSCARS. THERE ARE NO POC THAT WERE NOMINATED. YET, PEOPLE SAY IT ISN'T A BIG DEAL, BUT IT IS.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE BEING FETISHZED AND BEING CALLED "A HOT SPICY LATINA MAMI" OR "KINKY ASIAN SCHOOL GIRL," OR "SASSY EBONY WOMAN."
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE KNOWING THAT AMERICA WAS BUILT ON MASS GENOCIDE OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE AFRICAN SLAVES WHO WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR CULTURE. ALSO, DON'T FORGET THE ENSLAVEMENT OF CHINESE IMMIGRANTS AND NATIVE AMERICANS.
AMERICA WAS LITERALLY BUILT ON OPPRESSION AND RACISM AND THE SUFFERING OF MINORITIES. BUT, WHENEVER WE BRING IT UP, YOU SAY SHIT LIKE "WELL SLAVERY ENDED A LONG TIME AGO AND THINGS ARE DIFFERENT." OR, "RACISM DOESN'T EXIST. WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT."
JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT, DOESN'T MEAN THAT RACISM MAGICALLY DISAPPEARED. RACISM WILL NEVER DISAPPEAR. NO MATTER WHAT WE SAY OR DO, RACISM WILL STILL EXIST AND IT STILL EXISTS TODAY.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S LIKE HAVING FAMILY MEMBERS, OR EVEN YOURSELF, MADE FUN OF BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT ACCENT OR BECAUSE YOU EMBRACE YOUR CULTURE.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FACT THAT WHITE PEOPLE HAVE PRIVILEGE AND POWER AND THAT THERE ARE SO MANY POC WHO WANT TO BE WHITE. THEY BLEACH THEIR SKIN, DYE THEIR HAIR A LIGHTER COLOR, KEEP THEIR HAIR STRAIGHT, AND TRY TO GET RID OF THEIR CULTURE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE LIKE YOU AND THEY THINK THAT IN ORDER TO BE HAPPY, THEY NEED TO BE WHITE.
SO, FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH YOUR WHOLE "I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU FEEL" BECAUSE YOU DON'T AND YOU NEVER WILL. DON'T YOU EVER COME UP TO ME OR OTHER POC AND TRY TO TELL US STUFF ABOUT RACISM OR OUR RACE OR OUR CULTURE BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT IT.
YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT WE GO THROUGH BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER EXPERIENCE THE SAME OPPRESSION THAT WE DO.
