We people of color, but specifically Black people,
need to believe that everyone is racist as a survival tactic.
So I don't usually respond to comments or argue with people
over the internet, but I had to say something about this one.
Hey everyone my name is Cheyenne and I'm an Asian American adoptee and expat
living in Brazil. I post new videos about race, feminism,
and pop culture every Tuesday and Friday, so if you're
into that please subscribe and ring the bell. So in one of my videos that I
posted a few weeks ago about white problematic
faves I got a comment saying that calling someone,
in this case Taylor Swift, racist without any proof
is defamatory and "you can't just go around calling people racist
without evidence". And that made me extremely and very angry.
And here's why in a numbered list! Number one.
We do not live in a courthouse. And even if we did no one would believe us anyway
because it's obvious that the courts are stacked against us. But let's say that we
did live in a courthouse, it would take years to unpack all of the micro and
macro aggressions a single person of color faces and we
don't have time for that, especially in a world that doesn't
believe us anyway. So number two. Why is it so hard for you to believe
people of color's experiences? Why do you need proof of racism to think
that someone's racist? It's because you're white. You've never
lived in a world that wanted to kill you. We people of
color, but specifically Black people, need to believe that everyone is racist
as a survival tactic. In 2018 Tamla Hosford was murdered
by people she thought were her friends. We've been hurt and killed too many
times by "good intentioned" white people to not think that
everybody's racist. If we feel that someone's racist without
any concrete proof, believe us. If we think that someone gave
us the side eye because of our race, believe us. We know our
experiences to be true! This was the entire moral of the movie
Get Out! How could you just totally miss that? Oh
it's because you're white. Calling someone racist without proof is
necessary because by the time they are found guilty of a racist
act, it's too goddamn late. So number three. You don't need to murder someone
to be called racist or to be racist. A lot of white people, but
specifically white liberals, think that they
can't be racist because they're not a Trump supporter a card holding member of
the k-- or use the n word, but news flash you
don't need to do or be those things in order to be
racist. It could be something as little as asking
where they're from, doing an accent, or wanting to go back
to the "good old days". And these are all things that are of course hard to prove
as racist and therefore when white people are called out for them
they won't see them to be so. "This isn't hard
evidence." Claiming to need proof of racism in order to be called racist is
just another way white people like to gaslight POC and
not take their concerns seriously because white people know that it's
almost impossible to prove that they're racist
for just wanting to relive their childhoods.
What I'm finding out more and more is that white people just
are afraid to be honest with themselves because the more honest they are
the more they realize that they're part of this racist system. But I want to tell
white people that it's okay to be racist. It's okay to admit that you
hold racist beliefs. We all hold racist
beliefs due to the world that we grew up in.
I hold racist beliefs that I'm trying to undo every single day.
When I'm called out for being racist I analyze myself and see what i could be
doing better. So many times when we call out white
people for being racist their first response is "I'm not racist."
Like that's not. Helpful what is helpful is owning up to it and
admitting when you're wrong and seeing how you could do and be better.
And of course not depending on people of color to do all the work for you and
teach you everything. So number four and the last
point - we always have receipts! I will concede that
in that video I didn't bring up all of the racist things that Taylor has
done because honestly I didn't think I needed to. She's been doing appropriation
and rubbing people the wrong way since like 2016. Like have you been
living under a rock? In the comments I did list the things
that she's done, but also that we can still enjoy her music and art
because nobody's perfect. It's important that we call one another out
so that we can do better because it seems to me
that white people really don't know and are oblivious to the fact
that what they're doing sometimes is racist. But because they're oblivious
when you call them out for it they immediately break down.
After being on youtube for a little bit over a year, and of course making the
content that I do, I have become convinced that white
people think that we only call them out for racism and talk about racism
for the "lols" and also to hurt them. And that if you don't have the receipts
to back up your claims then you're being defamatory and irresponsible.
Like no we always have receipts! I just didn't feel the need to go
through everything that this woman has done because I thought that we were all
on the same page, but it turns out that white people are
like on another planet or something. I am sick of needing "proof" to call
someone racist because no. If you know you know.
Not only do we always have receipts, but closeted white racists have been outed
time and time again! We know from experience that all white people have
racial biases, some worse than others, it's how you deal with
those biases and deal with being called out that
matters. We're not doing this for fun or for the
"lols", this isn't a game to us. We're doing this for our survival and
also for our own sanity. And lastly because we're sick and
tired of giving you all the benefit of the doubt
when we've seen that that doesn't do sh*t. So the conclusion.
So that's it. If you're a white person that's following me and want to unfollow
me, go for it because you honestly
shouldn't have been following me in the first place.
As for the video that sparked this video it was really fun doing an unscripted
take and you know just kind of talking and
saying what's on my mind. It's also probably the only way I'll
ever be able to make really long videos because I like my
videos to be short, concise, and to the point,
even though YouTube doesn't. But it was actually cool to see that my analytics
actually improved a little bit because of that video because it was longer,
had a higher watch time, and a higher click-through rate, even though I did
actually end up losing like three subscribers after I published it so. I
think I am going to stick to my scripted shorter videos for
now, but if you do like seeing longer rantier videos that are
unscripted and a little bit messy, please comment down below and let me
know if you want to see them because I'll make them.
And if you become a Patron for just two dollars
you get to see my unscripted story times and get access
to videos early as well as voting privileges.
So that's it. I just want to say thank you for watching and thank you of course
to my patrons and my subscribers who helped me grow this channel. You guys
make my day every day! Believe POC when we say that someone's
racist even without proof because the proof has
been sitting in the pudding for the last 400 goddamn years.