Continuing my discussion of how racism is reflected within our media, let me give you a concrete example. There’s a media host whom I’ll call Craig. in the past I’ve seen Craig use his platform to promote someone who can’t grasp the idea of why fetishizing people from within a particular non-white community might be a bad idea. Yet via another outlet, he had absolutely no trouble discussing why women as a whole need to be careful when dealing with men who are strangers to them.
Similarly, I’ve seen moments on social media where men will defend the hell out of women. Yet concerning race-related issues, either they say nothing, or they easily back down from any defense they may have started to make.
The incidents that I’m referring to reflect a particular type of hypocrisy that needs to be called out:
Certain people support justice, regardless of who seeks it. In theory, a lot of people love the idea of being noble and standing up for what’s right. (Who doesn’t love The Hero?)
Yet I’ve paid attention to what some folks do in practice: They have no trouble with the idea of defending a woman’s honour. (Here, one might ask: Who do they think of as women, or specifically, women that deserve to be held in high regard?)
In contrast, when the time comes to stand up for people of colour, the hand wringing begins. In spite of some folks’ claims, there are limits to their unconditional kindness. It’s quite interesting to note: Their chivalrous energy evaporates when the people who need defending are from a group that they might not want to be intimate with.
Photo by José Léon via Unsplash
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