I am an avid social media user. Not only do I use them to post updates and pictures about my life but as a tool to promote social justice. We all know that there is a huge rift between black people or people of color and whites in America. I am not trying to prolong this with that statement, just calling things how I see them, unfortunately. All over social media, there are articles being shared about different things that are happening in our communities around the nation. The comments section is the battleground where internet warriors go to get their fix for the day.
I for one, read articles, but then I expressly go to the comment sections because that is where the true feelings of everyday citizens tend to lie. Unfortunately, reading the comment sections is something that tends to bring me a lot of heartache and disappointment, but in order to educate myself on views of the masses, it is something that I feel must be done.
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All too often I see the accusations of someone being "racist" or the term "racism" being thrown around very casually. This is something that deeply troubles me and if I may speak plainly really does piss me off. I understand that racial tensions are high right now, and many of us really want to solve these issues, but throwing these words around as we do is doing nothing but stoking the flames furiously. I am writing this article as a call to action for everyone who decides they want to speak on racial tensions in America today: PLEASE DO NOT USE THE WORDS RACIST OR RACISM INCORRECTLY!
If you think that you know the definition to the words racist and racism, or if there is any sliver of doubt in your mind, I will clean that up for you with the dictionary definition, taken right from the dictionary themselves.
I am pleading with everyone who enters these discussions to please be wary of using these words. These are the words that cause the most upset, chaos, and hurt between people of the "opposing" races. If you need to, look up the definitions for prejudice or discrimination, they may be more fitting for what you are trying to say; if neither of those work, look harder for a word that does fit. Our automatic inclination to use the term "racism" is hurtful to our argument when it is used incorrectly and people are being wrongly accused on the other side.
I am all for necessary dialogues, discussions, and arguments about race because there is no way that we will get around these issues if we do not speak about them. I ask that we participate using logic over emotion. Let's be careful and productive instead of being harmful and pointless.
