Some Thoughts About Posts From Friends
Post-Ferguson, I'm seeing that everyone has an opinion. My opinion: I think it's time for those of us not directly affected - and doing no more than posting outrage on a keyboard - to move on. Ignore the media. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.
But related to Ferguson, I'm seeing a lot of videos of black men shaming other black men. All well and good, but the people I see posting them are always white.
As a white person, it doesn't feel right to me to be posting a video/blog/essay by a black man that tells other black men how to behave.
First of all, among my online friends, I have but two black men that regularly show up in my friends/news feed. And they don't need the lecture.
Yes, it's a black man talking/writing, but if I repost it, I'm signing off on it, and it seems rather condescending of me as a white person to be lecturing a black man about how to behave. But again, few black men would see it anyway. So who would I be preaching to?
Would I really just be reinforcing the notion that, by virtue of being white, I AM better? Is it just a collective patting of our white selves on the back, as if there is no bad behavior among us?
But related to Ferguson, I'm seeing a lot of videos of black men shaming other black men. All well and good, but the people I see posting them are always white.
As a white person, it doesn't feel right to me to be posting a video/blog/essay by a black man that tells other black men how to behave.
First of all, among my online friends, I have but two black men that regularly show up in my friends/news feed. And they don't need the lecture.
Yes, it's a black man talking/writing, but if I repost it, I'm signing off on it, and it seems rather condescending of me as a white person to be lecturing a black man about how to behave. But again, few black men would see it anyway. So who would I be preaching to?
Would I really just be reinforcing the notion that, by virtue of being white, I AM better? Is it just a collective patting of our white selves on the back, as if there is no bad behavior among us?