"I have learned to recognize the difference between a situation that is genuinely unsafe and one that is simply uncomfortable."
– Malkia Devich Cyril
White people, please stop equating your discomfort talking about racism and White supremacy with the genuinely unsafe conditions that Black people and other people of color endure daily because of racism and White supremacy.
They're not the same.
When you act and think like they are, you are perpetuating harm. You are perpetuating inequality. You are perpetuating inequity.
You are upholding the status quo. You are colluding with the system.
Let me be clearer:
White people getting defensive when they are told that White supremacy is a thing—>uncomfortable for White people.
White supremacy being a thing—>genuinely unsafe for Black people.
White people being told their unexamined White privilege is causing harm—>uncomfortable for White people.
White people not examining their White privilege—>genuinely unsafe for Black people.
White people being held accountable for perpetuating systemic racism—>uncomfortable for White people.
White people perpetuating systemic racism—>genuinely unsafe for Black people.
All discomfort is not created equally. Your discomfort is not unsafe.
Your discomfort is not at the center of this conversation.