Black Rage

13. "sharing is caring."

white people:

no, you may not say that little word that you are forbidden to say just because you are dating me.
no, you may not get offended that #blackwomendidthat was trending on Twitter.
no, you may not say that iggy is the best rapper and not expect to be clapped back at.
no you may not disrespect the queen and then go home and learn the words to get your freak on before quoting and not giving credit so your little white friend's think you're innovative.
no, you may not say that i'm pulling the "race card"
no, you may not steal my culture.

MY BLACK DOES NOT LOOK BETTER ON YOU.

13.

it's gotten to the point now that we should apparently feel honored that you're soiling and dirtying your porcelain skin with our blackness. it's gotten to the point that you have never seen a day of oppression and you believe that me not wanting to share my culture is somehow you being one of the oppressed.

it took me so long to feel confident enough to love my skin, to be happier that i get darker in the summer, to appreciate the coils in my hair for what they are but to also understand that sometimes my curls are a little less defined just like my skin. it's taken so long to be proud of who i am as a person, proud of what i stand for and proud enough to wear a dashiki in public...
and now that we're actually becoming proud of our heritage, you take it upon yourself to infiltrate.

and you love the bright colors and the exotic foods and "ghetto" dances and you absorb it and strive to look like us, act like us, walk like us, talk like us, and you think we should feel flattered.

we don't. why is that so hard for you to understand? it feels like mockery.

just like blackface was mockery: when you put a grill in, cornrow your hair, and tell us that you created something that missy and dre and lauryn and aaliyah and whitney and all these black icons have been doing since the dawn of time... it's not flattery.

i don't need you to show me my shit.

this brings me to the topic of cultural appropriation because little white boys understand why you shouldn't wear thrasher if you aren't a skater but are blindsided when we tell them to stop acting like dreads are their trend.

sweatheart, i'm not offended that you are wearing cornrows...

i'm offended that you erase the fact that little boys and girls have been kicked out of school for doing the same. you erase the fact that on us, it's seen as unprofessional and ghetto but now that white people want to indulge, it's cute.

i'm offended that my mother was bullied for having big lips but now white people are getting injections and then claiming kylie did it first.

i'm offended that you're cashing in on something that you didn't create yet neglecting the fact that the people that are endorsing are also stepping on us.

babygirl, stop stripping away our history to make your mockery seem okay. it'd be different if you actually acknowledged the double standard and cultural significance but you're not. it's fucking annoying for you to act as if it's creating a racial divide to be credited.

just imagine that you were harassed at work or something for having an idea and pitching it at a board meeting and it be deemed stupid.

and then your colleague that's no more experienced than you pitches the same idea and gets a raise, paid vacation, promotion and credit.

that's how it is for people of color in america. slap some blonde hair on it, give it a new name, and suddenly it's a trend. (people of color do culturally appropriate as well but it's less offensive because of the fact that we have similar struggles and we know that they're not trying to strip the culture)

add in years and years of oppression and the fact that everyone else seems blind to it and you have a very small teeny tiny understanding of cultural appropriation.

cultural appropriation is not that you are borrowing, it's that you are stealing. people tend to confuse it with assimilation. cultural assimilation is when you credit someone and acknowledge where it came from before borrowing i.e. a recipe for pulao, a braiding technique, a language class. (certain things shouldn't be assimilated though such as headdress and other things that are sacred to that culture. to put it lightly, don't wear my damn dashiki)

cultural appropriation is where you completely strip my culture from it, slap a new name to it, and call it yours. this often comes with a disrespect of the culture it came from. (certain things are more serious than others but all are offensive.)

i am not a trend. i'm not your token black friend that you keep around only for ideas and recipes for your success. and i have a lot of rage in me.

don't fuck with it.

-

PSA: STRAIGHT, WHITE MEN HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO OPPRESSION IN AMERICA STOP ACTING LIKE THEY DO, IT'S FUCKING ANNOYING AND INSULTING. OPPRESSION ISN'T A CLUB THAT TOU HAVE A RIGHT TO FEEL LEFT OUT OF, IT'S NOT A JOKE, AND IT'S NOT A UNIVERSAL THING LIKE PRIVILEGE. STRAIGHT WHITE MEN ARE NOT OPPRESSED IN AMERICA AND HAVE NEVER BEEN OPPRESSED IN AMERICA, DEAL WITH IT. WE CAN ALL HOLD HANDS AND SING WE SHALL OVERCOME WHEN YOU HAVE SHARED A SIMILAR STRUGGLE OR YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVEN'T BUT YOU WANT TO HELP. IF YOUR ONLY COMPLAINT IS THAT TALKING ABOUT MY PEOPLE'S HORRID HISTORY IS CREATING A RACE WAR OR DIVIDE, EDUCATE YOURSELF. EDUCATE YOURSELF, CORRECT YOURSELF AND COME BACK.

AND GOOGLE ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT, THEIR DEFINITION OF KETCHUP IS A SPICY CONDIMENT, GET THE FUCK OUT WITH YOUR "BECKY IS A RACIAL SLUR" HEADASS.