Madame Thursday

ihaveabsolutelynoidea:

things that are not inherently awful or something you should feel ashamed of:

• being white
• being male
• being cisgendered
• being straight or heteronormative
• being able bodied
• being neurotypical
• being conventionally attractive

things that suck and you should feel ashamed of:

• denying the privilege that comes with being any of those things
• attempting to highlight your thoughts, views, ideas, experiences, etc, over those of the people you have privilege over when discussing their oppression
• complaining whenever someone of the oppressed group calls you out
• mislabeling, misgendering, or using slurs to refer to said oppressed group
• trying to showcase your allyship by over-exaggerating your beliefs or vying for attention for acting like a decent person 

it’s really that simple. 

YES, THANK YOU. 

I just want to send this memo out to everyone who thinks that being told, as a privileged person, to please SHUT UP is being told they should be ashamed for being privileged. 

You can’t help being white. You CAN help acting like a jackass and treating others like shit. That’s the point. Recognize that you have privilege, that you shouldn’t, that it hurts others, and act accordingly. 

Also, fuck anyone else out there who thinks the point of addressing privilege(s) is to make you feel guilty

note-a-bear:

Whether or not your dumb ass feels guilt is none of my concern. What concerns me is how you use your privilege to help others. I don’t give a shit what you do with your own time or your own learning. But if you’re not willing to step up to the plate and put yourself on the line when someone who is less privileged than you is being harmed, then you’re worthless to me.

Fuck your guilt.

Guilt is useless.

(via alexandraerin)

usernames of white girls who tag shit #headdress #fashion

garconniere:

have usernames like:

• gypsylicious
• runfreelikewolves
• caught in a dreamcatcher
• gypsyocean
• the massacre alive

you can’t even make this shit up.

Reasons why the “positive” racism, “model minority” stereotype for Asian Americans can be damaging:

fromonesurvivortoanother:

• Any standard that is unrealistic and homogenous is inherently damaging by creating inhuman expectations.
• This is especially true when Asian American socio-economic status, although higher on average than other non-white groups, can actually vary hugely between different populations. Hmong and Vietnamese communities are usually extremely poor, for example.
• The society around you has been socialized into thinking that you can automatically succeed— so when you inevitably fail at something, teachers, guidance counselors, and others are less likely to perceive that you need help.
• Obviously, if you’re broke, your parents have no time to help you out, and you have to face a language or cultural barrier, there will be problems. If no one thinks that people who look like you can even have said problems, then you’re basically stuck in the middle of an ocean without much help.
• Having classmates ask you for answers, and not knowing them.
• Or, if you do know the answer, but you refuse to tell them, they bring up the “model minority” thing and then you’re in a double bind— prove you’re intelligent and buy into the stereotype, or do what is honest and then be seen as not “authentic”, a liar, rude, etc.
• You are automatically seen as less likely for a sexual or romantic partner because you might a) intimidate people with your smarts, or b) be an antisocial “nerd”
• If you want to do something that is not math or science, like English, then people think it’s weird, because you aren’t supposed to be there.
• If you decide that math or science is right for you, then you have to deal with lots of jokes about being where you “belong”.
• Having to deal with the expectation that you are well-behaved, “well-adjusted” (whatever that means), and quiet. If you are loud, stand up for yourself, etc., it is more likely to be seen as offensive than if a person of another group acted that way.
• If you succeed in class, your successes are automatically discounted based on your race (“oh, he’s asian! that explains his good grades”), rather than being praised as evidence of your hard work.
• Rarely ever receiving praise, because it is expected of you and not seen as something exceptional.
• Feeling as if you cannot raise your hand to ask questions in class, because someone will immediately draw attention to how you do not fit the intelligent stereotype. This, of course, only contributes to feeling like you are not smart enough.

These are only a few examples.

just a reminder: attending protests is a privilege.

youarenotyou:

being able to take time off from work/school (especially for long periods like w/ occupy wall street), being able to get arrested without getting deported (which is what happens to non-citizens when they get arrested), not having disabilities that prevent you from being there, not having children to take care of

you get the idea

sometimes i get annoyed with activists who assume that everyone can go to these things

THIS ^^^. 

THANK YOU.

I’d also like to add that going to a few protests does not an activist or a useful fighter of oppression make. At the end of the day fighting oppression and changing the system isn’t JUST about a few flashy displays of anger with signs and yelling. Those things matter, too, of course and they have their time and place. But it’s also about changing daily realities for people, about what happens when people aren’t protesting, when they’re working, going to school, living their lives. 

(via bad-dominicana)

So coming up on the news…

fromonesurvivortoanother:

dumbthingswhitepplsay:

Is a story about how 8 black foster children went missing and were found. It’s rare to see anyone give a shit about missing black children, so I was surprised, until I realized…

It took 8 missing black children to get 1/50th of the exposure that one pretty missing white girl gets.

Just putting that out there, and black people, if you’re going to go missing, do it in packs or no one will hear about it or care.

Source here. Also, here’s a great post on missing white woman syndrome.