White Fragility, Liberal Racism, Colorism, Fat Shaming, Intersectionality: 6 Articles I’ve Been Reading This Week

From Huffpost Black Voices: A Tale of Two Pities: White Fragility and Trump Racism Are Equally Dangerous

“Trump is not some phenomenon, he is a direct reflection of America as it is right now. He is a result of the dying white America that white people have been promised their entire lives.

Trump’s xenophobic obsession with Mexicans and Latinos is a direct result of theirs being the fastest growing minority population in the US. His silencing of Black Lives Matter protestors at various rallies, his fear mongering around Islam and Muslim populations are because the narratives are shifting, even if they haven’t penetrated every space of influence yet.”

---

From The Root: An Open Letter To Melissa Harris-Perry From  A Grateful Student

“You exposed me to the seminal works of black feminism, enabling me to articulate views I’d always held, and helped me recognize a movement that lay dormant inside me.

That I could be a black woman in America and never be taught to speak my own language only underscores how much we need courses like yours. And for my development as a policymaker, your course provided a much-needed lens through which I could examine my other colorblind courses, where race was simply a footnote.”

---

From Harlot Magazine: We Need a Decolonized, Not A Diverse Education

“Through a white-writing of history (and history textbooks) that erases and minimizes all of the revolts that were necessary for change, liberals are able to demand that protesters remain totally peaceful, pacifist, and nonviolent (by which they mean non-destructive of property) in the face of dehumanization, degradation, and absolute repressive violence (the actual destruction of human life).

White liberals and their sympathizers take ideas and quotes from Martin Luther King out of context and use them to shame disruptive protesters as rioters and looters, dismiss more militant activists as spiteful and vengeful, blaming them all for their own conditions.”

---

From The Establishment: Nina Simone, Zoe Saldana, And Light-Skinned Fragility

“Defeating white supremacy requires that we battle it whenever we encounter it, even within ourselves…You cannot love your blackness and uphold a system that values your proximity to whiteness. That is what the casting of Saldana as Simone does.”

---

From Medium: What It’s Like To Be That Fat Person Sitting Next To You On The Plane

“In that way, air travel is sadly familiar, a microcosm of what happens so often as a fat person. I am watched — and judged harshly — as I try — and fail — to fit into a space that was made for someone else.

I am always too big, always too much, always unacceptable. I must make myself smaller and smaller, reducing and reducing endlessly, my stubborn body resisting at every turn. Still, I am never quite small enough to make anyone else comfortable.”

---

From Everyday Feminism: Trying To Avoid Burnout And Still Help Others? How Intersectionality Is Key

 “Here’s a comic to remind you that an intersectional approach can actually help you find a healthy balance between taking care of yourself and looking out for others. It’s all about personal accountability – which is key for both our individual wellbeing and for our communities.”