Quit Trying To Muzzle Me

One of the things I constantly battle as a African descended person trying to tell my stories or speak my mind about issues is vanilla flavored privilege filled folks deploying an array of silencing techniques.

They attempt to shut down or divert the conversation from whatever points I was attempting to make.

Just because what I or any other POC has to say makes you uncomfortable or does not neatly line up with your worldview doesn't make it wrong.

It also doesn't give you the right to attempt to shout it down.

I'm not 'racist' when I call out whiteness, the insidious way it operates in our society, instances of white peeps behaving badly or vanilla flavored privileged peeps saying stuff that is, let's say it, racist.

Speaking of racist, that stunt when you post epithet filled comments while hiding behind anonymous screen names is so nekulturny.

If your pointed sheet wearing behind is bold enough to say it, be bold enough to claim it.

I love it when you call on the mythical Black 'friend' who just happens to have a viewpoint that is diametrically opposed to mine and lines up neatly with yours.

Um, that's the oldest trick in the book, and doesn't fly because conservative Black peeps are currently about 2% of our voting population.

The likelihood that you know a Black person that just happens to have a viewpoint that neatly lines up with yours is about the same odds as the LA Clippers winning back-to-back NBA championships.

Oh yeah, don't try the fake comments trick either. You know, the one where you claim you're Black, biracial, a 'minority' (dead giveaway) _______________ (fill in the blank).

But you post a talking points filled commentary that sounds like you got it from Rush Limbaugh or WingNutDaily, express thoughts that put you in the Clarence Thomas or Condoleezza Rice sellout club or stick in links that go directly to right wing websites.

Writing styles are as individual as fingerprints. There are certain historical, racial, cultural and gender nuances that you vanilla flavored poseurs don't get or miss that will always get you race (and gender) perpetrators busted.

You can personally attack me by calling me, 'angry', 'emotional' or whatever euphemism du jour you're using at that moment, but it still doesn't change the fact that the crap happened and I'm calling it out.

So you can chill with your weak attempts to use various silencing techniques to muzzle me. I'm still going to call your BS out when I see it and when it happens.

If you want a meaningful dialogue on various issues, it can't be a one way conversation. Just as you wish for me to listen to what you have to say, I need, deserve and demand the same respect.