Tone Policing

If you feel the need to say “Not all white people,” you should watch this video.

It’s not only aggravating to the very people you are opening your mouth to say that you are down with, it’s also counter-productive, unnecessary, and an exhibit of white privilege to believe that you have the right to demand people of color cater to your comfort level when speaking about their lived experience. If you really need to prove that “not all white people,” then take some action, put your money, blood, sweat and tears where your mouth is.

Highlights from this video: You do not have to like a person’s tone or attitude to believe that they deserve equal rights. No one needs to make the conversation comfortable or palatable for you in order to say that everyone deserves equal rights.

Imagine what can happen if we stop Tone Policing the conversation and start talking about understanding how weapons of whiteness are oppressing people of color everyday and how every single person has some form of internalized racism and allegiance to the patriarchal, white supremacist structures embedded in our culture.

There is so much more freedom than shame in opening our eyes and admitting to the lies, denial and oppression we’ve been participating in.