rantingaboutprejudice - Tumblr blog

[rantingaboutprejudice]

hot take of the day

it’s probably not my place to say this, being a white person, so disclaimer that this is just my personal opinion as an american high school student (and occasional linguistics nerd), BUT:

I firmly believe the African American Vernacular dialect would be recognized as grammatically proper, in the same way as any other dialect of English (American, Canadian, British, Australian, etc.), if it wasn’t for the high-and-mighty old white men in academia being racist ¯\_( ¯―¯ )_/¯

[rantingaboutprejudice]

“I just hope you find something that makes life worth living for you.”

TW: Brief mention of suicidal thoughts!

Today, I was talking about going to protests, even though I’m mildly concerned about safety. I’m 16, but my mom said that as worried as she was about my safety, if I found something to believe in, something that makes life worth living despite my struggles with suicidal thoughts, she definitely wouldn’t stop me.

But in all honesty -- I’m not sure that life IS worth living. Not in this twisted world filled with prejudice, violence, dishonesty, and fear. From time to time, I think that it’s not worth it at all.

And that’s probably the exact reason I want to stand up and protest, because I am very, VERY angry with the people who help make the world so awful.

So yeah. Maybe life is worth living just to stand up to them.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

it me!

Heya folks! This is my secondary blog for discussing topics such as racism, feminism and sexism, social justice and injustice, lgbtq+ rights, and the shitstorm that is america.

(My primary is multifandom and writing, so. I decided I wanted to keep the two separate.)

Constructive criticism on my posts is totally accepted!! If I say something offensive on accident, PLEASE let me know. I’m white, so, you know, if I mess up I need to listen. Just. Be nice. Pls. I really am trying my best, and I will listen and take any comments seriously.

But, on that note, if anyone comments/messages me anything that is hateful/prejudiced/racist/sexist/homophobic/etc., I’m just going to block you immediately.

Pronouns: They/them

Nickname: I’d prefer if people called me “R” on this blog, since it’s my first initial.

16 y/o, and taking medical leave from junior year in high school because my mental health is bad

Obligatory blog forewarning: I swear WAY too much.

I Fucking Hate America. I am an american.

Random Stuff About Me, if You’re Interested

Non-binary agender (but AFAB and therefore subject to 99% of the same sexist bullshit as women, since society perceives me as one. Literally the only time I remotely identify as female is when I’m being a raging feminist.)

On that note, I am a perpetually angry feminist. I am also perpetually angry at Trump, his supporters, and anyone else who thinks people should be prosecuted/harmed or are inferior for being black/non-white/Muslim/queer/trans/female/etc.

I normally don’t bother with proper grammar, except for long posts as I believe it makes them easier to digest (and most of my posts on this blog accidentally turn long)

I’m a total academic nerd except I hate american history because it gets very boring very quickly seeing as there isn’t very much of it

Life-long chronic health conditions. (Do not get me started on how determined literally all public american systems are to fuck over people with health issues. I’ve spent my whole life fighting my body and since first grade I’ve had to fight my teachers and doctors to get what I need too, and it’s a universal experience.)

I’m probably the only teenager you’ll ever find on Tumblr who regularly sleeps 8 to 10 hours and eats 6 to 8 servings of produce a day. Reason? I get migraines if I don’t. (I mean, I get them anyway, but they’re worse if I don’t look after my body. So.)

ADHD, OCD symptoms including severe intrusive thoughts, chronic depression for 5-6 years, anxiety for 3. Still kicking just to spite the world.

I write fiction (novel and short-story style) in my spare time. I got halfway through an original novel and then had to start over because I messed up pacing and it was pretty much just “okay maybe some of the scenes are reusable but the draft itself just need to be restarted.”

As mentioned above, I’m an american america hater. I plan to go to college and later live in Canada, where people believe in basic politeness. And gun control. 

Header BG Image; text added with Adobe Illustrator 2021. Icon made from scratch in Adobe Illustrator 2021.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

Tired

Sometimes, I’m so tired of it all that I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to argue or debate or protest. When I just want to live in a world where I’m safe.

Where we’re all safe.

A world where, I don’t have to be afraid every time I leave the house alone. I’m 16 years old, and every time I leave the house, I leave with an underlying fear that I will be assaulted or raped just for being born female. Often, I won’t even notice it consciously. But it’s there, every time. 

And just think about how many people can relate to that, for a minute. I’m the norm, not the outlier. Black people, women, Muslims, LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people. They get assaulted for things they cannot choose. Hell, students at public schools now how to live with the fear that they’re going to be shot just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And sometimes I’m just so sick of it all that I just want it all to stop.

I’m so tired of the fear and the hate and the pain and the constant injustice.

Of course I want to live in a world that’s equal and just, where everyone gets what they need. But what I really want, deep in my heart? I want a world that’s safe. Sure, there’s still going to be criminals and bad people. But I want a world where the base expectation is safety, not violence, and that’s something no one’s ever had the luxury of having.

And really? Sometimes it all feels so stupid.

Because honestly, when you think about that outside of the context of the unsafe world we live in – it just doesn’t seem like that much to ask for.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

hey so i might not be in the uk but i AM genderqueer/trans and THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ AND SPREAD IT. DONATE IF YOU CAN, BUT AT LEAST SPREAD THE WORD!!

( thread link )

link to the fund: https://www.gendergp.com/the-gendergp-fund/

[rantingaboutprejudice]

yknow I was honestly half-hoping this post would age badly when i made it

like obviously I didn’t want police violence (i’m never for violence because obviously violence bad and also good god I can’t deal with it.) but I was only 50% following the protests and avoiding live footage out of instinct because I can’t handle watching violence when protests turn sour. half of me was hoping I was overreacting or imagining things.

I wasn’t. good god, I definitely wasn’t imagining it. I was just one of the folks who happened to bring it up during the event rather than afterwards (which, fair, most folks were concerned with the fact that Capitol Hill was being stormed.)

check out this twitter thread from Obama for articles about it. I haven’t read all of them yet (I plan to), but I trust Obama to only share stuff by reliable sources. since he’s like actually sensible. unlike Trump.

has anyone yet considered the police/authorities reactions to the Capitol Hill storming vs. the BLM protests

has anyone yet considered the levels of violence in reaction to the protestors

has anyone yet considered how brutal the police were in comparison to how peaceful the respective protestors were

has anyone yet considered the fact that the most peaceful of the BLM protests were put down more violently, despite, y’know, not storming Capitol Hill and causing the congress to fear for their lives

has anyone yet considered the skin colors of the protestors in each group

has anyone yet considered the fact that, as of the moment, it looks like black liberals marching in the streets were treated with far more violence than white extremists storming government property

has anyone yet considered that and found it really interesting?

[rantingaboutprejudice]

The Cheeto Man, on MLK day: Christopher Columbus is a national hero

Me: *suffers in history nerd*

Anyway here’s a good video on what Columbus Actually Did and Did Not Do, because the media has been ALL over the place recently.

Tl;dr: Columbus is a controversial historical figure who gets more attention that he deserves. His actions directly (and indirectly) resulted in a lot of pain, suffering, and death for the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and Americas.

Knowing Better’s political stance is quite clear (“I want to start this off by saying we should get rid of Columbus day. We should start celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day” and “As long as our calendar-- and by extension our government and our culture -- continues to elevate him as a symbol of colonial dominance, he deserves to be torn down.”) But he’s also going “so in the past media has glorified Columbus but he’s recently also been vilified. So here’s like What Actually Happened. He’s still a Bad Person tho.”

The video itself is much easier to follow that most history stuff I’ve seen. He talks about the process of the video as well, which is really helpful to understanding the whole Columbus debacle.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

everyone in america: yay we get a day off!

me, also an american: i’m not sure you deserve a day off in MLK’s name with all the racist crap you’ve been pulling in the past few years, but sure, go off i guess

Anyway, not the point of this post.

The point of this post is actually a tribute to MLK, the Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter, and every single Black person who has fought for justice. Then and now. To MLK, and to the Black protestors in the Civil Rights Movement. To Harriet Tubman and all the Black men and women who fought in the Abolition Movement, the Underground Railroad, and Civil War. To Black Lives Matter and all the Black people who have risked their lives to fight for true justice. To all the Black communities and individuals who have fought over the many centuries as groups and as individuals in many movements and protests, who risked and often lost everything in order to fight for real justice in America, both today and in the past: thank you. 

We too often ignore the efforts of the average Black people in favor of the white allies. So today, I want to acknowledge Black fighters and communities in specific.

So thank you to Martin Luther King Jr., for standing up and fighting for what was right. Thank you to Malcom X, Rosa Parks, and Claudette Colvin. Thank you to all those who fought alongside them and do not get named. Today is for all the black people who risked and sacrificed their lives and livelihoods to fight for the true justice and Black rights during the Civil Rights Movement. Today, take a moment to think on all those people. Take a moment, just one moment, to truly think about the man who advocated for peaceful protests, and take a moment to think about all the people who, like him, risked everything to fight for what was right.

Thank you to everyone who is still fighting that fight today. Please, everyone – take a moment to think on those people, the Black people risking their lives at protests today, throughout this entire hectic year. I can say with confidence: 2020 was a disaster, but the BLM movement was a shining beacon of hope in the midst of the mess. It’s truly inspiring to see people moving together like this. And it’s no temporary movement; BLM is here to stay, and I’m practically jumping in my seat with glee. (The Civil Rights Movement lasted decades. I have a feeling BLM is prepared to be just as stubborn. I’m prepared to join them.)

I am white. I am part of the system. Hell – I benefit from the system.

But it needs to stop, because it is horrifically wrong and immoral. To all the black communities, to all non-white communities: I will not run away from this country’s history, from its horrible past and what my very own ancestors have done to your peoples. I will not deny it, and I will not turn a blind eye. I will seek information that has been kept hidden out of shame, and educate myself and others. I promise to fight tooth and nail for the justice you deserve, that you have been denied for centuries. Because this is wrong. You deserve better.

But more than anything, I promise to listen to you all, to follow your lead, because this is your fight. Your people are the ones who have suffered and been hurt. You are the ones who understand the situation, and I am merely an outsider to your communities. I am an outsider who wants more than anything to help, but still an outsider and a white one at that. I will do everything I can to take initiative on my own to help you, don’t get me wrong. But I promise I will listen to you, because all of you know better than I do. Because when I say something unintentionally prejudiced, I want to be corrected, so that I don’t say it again. Because I do not want to do the wrong thing and hurt people.

I am sixteen. For years, I feared the risk of protests. I feared death. I feared hurting my loved ones by getting hurt if I went to protests. But I’m done cowering, because that’s what the racists want, isn’t it? I’m angry. I’ve seen so many people hurt and I’m tired of it. I want it to stop. So I’m going to stand up and fight. When this pandemic is over, so help me God – I will be there, and I will fight.

For today, writing this piece doesn’t feel like enough. I want to do more. I want to be protesting, I want to be working towards real change, I want to be doing more than just braindumping onto the internet. PLEASE reach out if you’ve got anything I can do that doesn’t involve leaving deep quarantine, because I can’t think of anything (I’m one of FOUR high-risk group people in the household; we’re in very very deep quarantine.)

In honor of Martin Luther King Junior, one of greatest, bravest Americans to ever live, here’s a quote by him I ran across during school readings that I just ADORE that I shared here on Tumblr a while ago:

It’s been on an upward trajectory throughout history, over all. And that? That will never change. Justice will not lose to bigots.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

has anyone yet considered the police/authorities reactions to the Capitol Hill storming vs. the BLM protests

has anyone yet considered the levels of violence in reaction to the protestors

has anyone yet considered how brutal the police were in comparison to how peaceful the respective protestors were

has anyone yet considered the fact that the most peaceful of the BLM protests were put down more violently, despite, y’know, not storming Capitol Hill and causing the congress to fear for their lives

has anyone yet considered the skin colors of the protestors in each group

has anyone yet considered the fact that, as of the moment, it looks like black liberals marching in the streets were treated with far more violence than white extremists storming government property

has anyone yet considered that and found it really interesting?

[rantingaboutprejudice]

with every day of my life, i grow increasingly convinced that the american people are in possession of exactly one (1) braincell.

and just so we’re clear, i am an american.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

[rantingaboutprejudice]

*inhales* THIS

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[rantingaboutprejudice]

To my fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community and to all others who feel lost or confused about their personal identity:

Even if it is “just a phase,” it is okay to identify with that which you feel fits you best in this moment.

Let people have “phases.” Let them be who they are in this one individual moment. Who cares if it doesn’t last? In this exact moment, this is who I am. If that changes in the future, that doesn’t invalidate how I felt in the past. It is okay to go for what feel best in this exact moment, to live for the present, to live for the individual moment, and to live day by day. In fact, living in the moment is healthier that being anxious about the future.

Right now, in this single, split-second instant, what feels best to you to be? Gay? Bi? Trans? Asexual? Genderfluid? Pansexual? Be it. Be what fits best at each individual moment.

Be who you feel you are in this exact moment, and worry about the future when you get there.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

“It is true all men should love one another. It is true, all men should live as brothers. Is it we who do not thus? What others demand of us, should they not themselves give? Is it just to expect one friend to give all the friendship? We are glad to live with white men as brothers. But we ask that they expect not the brotherhood and the love to come from the Indian alone.”

Short Bull of the Dakotas, taken from The Indians’ Book, 1907, compiled and edited by Natalie Curtis.

This hurt to read. It was heart-wrenching. But it’s true, and a white person, I cannot turn away from that reality. It wouldn’t be right of me to ignore it.

[rantingaboutprejudice]

oh damn, called out-

(Also: you’re right and you should say it)

[rantingaboutprejudice]

[rantingaboutprejudice]

*inhales* FACTS.