I'm Racially Tired

Filed under: Black

I’ve taken a break from my main account on Twitter. I run about 6 others and I’m still active on those but I tweet mostly from @lukealexdavis. It’s not the first time I’ve taken a break but I’ve decided not to deactivate this time. Why am I drawing more attention to this? Because I’m tired. Whether it’s the Windrush scandal, Kanye being a right-wing sympathiser, or Bill Cosby and Nas apologists, there are people who have suffered or are suffering and people out there defending them. And I’m tired of all of it. I’m very vocal about race on my account because I’ve been subjected to my own relative experiences.

I think my biggest bugbear right now is seeing all these issues take place and the dominant voices being white and cis. And if you call for anything else, you’re “censoring”. God forbid they should just shut up for once and let a member of the group being marginalised speak. I wouldn’t mind but many with privilege don’t even use it to speak up for those who suffer, instead deciding to make their own opinions, steal those of the disenfranchised, or play down their suffering (and then calling them out for discrimination when they get called out). And they wonder why we’re angry or upset (I say “we” as a cis Black man and the relative discrimination I face in as a member of that demographic only).

My intentions here are not selfish. This is more of a call to those in those privileged groups to think about what you say and how you say it when it comes to members of other social groups who suffer discrimination. I often say I’m not some kind of expert and learn how to be better everyday. It’s not about political correctness (a terribly misused phrase), it’s about genuine equality and letting people live without fear of persecution. Amplify voices rather than talking over them. Listen instead of talking. Question those around you rather than enabling. They’re things I learn to do everyday and if we all did, we’d be on the road to a better place.

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