abichi

There will be a lot of discussion, and that leads to lots of arguments and talking points from people who don’t quite understand. There are many different perspectives, and it’s good to know some common perspectives and arguments.

Racial Gaslighting

“It’s a Joke”

In some instances, people will say something they thought wasn’t racist. When called out on it, they can get defensive and try to cover it up by saying this. The bottomline is that this line is not a valid excuse. For one, if it was a joke it would be funny, and calling it out shows it was not.

• Even if it were to pass as a “joke”, it’s insensitive.
• Casual racism is still racism.
• It is offensive and not harmless because the act is oppressive by writing off struggles of oppressed groups.
• Jokes about any one group of people like race is insulting, as it is profiling.

“Why do you have to make everything about race?”

This is just a phrase to get people to shut up about race. This completely misses the point though. There is systemic discrimination in our society that revolves around the concept of race and being different based on looks. To say this is not a valid point when discussing what marginalized groups go through.

• This means anything and everything can be about race, and always will be unless we change the system so race isn’t a factor in how everyone is treated.

“I know them, they’re not racist”

Let’s be honest, a lot of people are racist. This doesn’t mean they have to be raging and spitting on about how all other races should suffer, it just means that they have beliefs and take actions which contribute to a racist system, whether knowingly or not.

• People’s experiences are also varying. Racism in the city is different than in rural areas; northern racism is different from southern racism; etcetera.
• People can hide their racism. Oftentimes racist beliefs don’t come out until they’re faced with a race they have those beliefs of. If someone doesn’t like cats, they don’t bring it up all the time, just when there’s a cat or they’re a topic of discussion. You could know someone for years before finding out they don’t like cats though. It can be the same with racism.

“You’re probably imagining it”

This is just trying to invalidate someone’s experiences, which is just not okay. Most people don’t lie about their negative experiences due to their race.

• Questioning someone’s perception is also offensive. It insinuated they’re lying or dramatic.
• Racism is very real and very much alive.

“It’s not that big of a deal”

There’s barely anything to say except that this is wrong.

• It is a constant reminder that BIPOC are not good enough and that being different is lesser.
• BIPOC have to deal with it their entire lives, it can’t not be a big deal.

From a post from @taiiybaali.