iNKWELL

ALL White People (edited)

GET IT THE FUCK TOGETHER!

Have you learned ANYTHING?? Blackface WAS not, IS not, AND WILL NEVER BE COOL, FUNNY, OR ACCEPTABLE ON ANY FUCKING LEVEL! FOR ANYONE! NOT EVEN PEOPLE OF COLOR! Have you SEEN any reactions to the Nina Simone movie with Zoe looking like a damn baked ham with her face all clumped up with that nonsense? WE ARE NOT HAPPY TO SEE YOU DEPICT OUR PEOPLE! IN ANY REGARD! I DON’T GIVE TOO MUCH OF A SHIT IF YOU’RE DRESSED AS THE MOST POWERFUL BLACK WOMAN TO WALK THIS EARTH, THE ANSWER IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE: NO! FUCKING NO! The shit isn’t KIND, The shit isn’t SMART. But it is, for damn sure, IMPORTANT that you realize that you have to cut this fuckery completely the fuck out. And I am so serious. Because If I see one of your kin out depicting ANY PEOPLE of color, I am CALLING YOU THE FUCK OUT. I will thoroughly read your cousin from cover to cover, will make all those feelings of “white guilt” rise to the top, and will pick at the guilty fibers of your cousin’s existence, because being a person of color is not something you can depict or dabble in for one day and think it’s fine without knowing the HORRIFIC repercussions that have come with LIVING IN THIS SKIN EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE!

Take a break from using your white privilege for a moment and understand the weight of your actions: we do not have the luxury of stepping out of our skins when we so please or when it is convenient for us (not saying we necessarily WANT to). However, we have to maneuver around these obstacles and take ALL prejudices in stride. We did not ask for things to be easier for US, but we are asking that you UNDERSTAND and ADHERE to these realities. All people of color are affected, not just Blacks/African-Americans. We are ALL affected and would more than appreciate it if you wouldn’t mock our cultures, or what you THINK is reflective of our cultures, EVER again.

No, You may not touch my hair.

No, You may not stare at me across a crowded (or empty) room.

No, Your hair will not look like this if you get one of those white people perms.

No, You may not smell my hair.

No, You may not ask if I wash it.

No, You are not allowed to get offended when I tell you, “no”

No, You may not negotiate. I know what white skin feels like. I prefer not to barter skin fondling for your research on whether my hair feels like cheetos

No, You may not ask me to, “shake my dreads”

No, You may not call my hair “dreads” there is noting “dread-ful” about my hair, just the fact that you keep trying to make a spectacle of me

No, You may not take pictures of my hair

No, I don’t want to hear about how you have two black friends whose hair looks like mine

No, I don’t look like Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, Raven Symone, Lauryn Hill, or Erykah Badu. Just because they are black, does not mean we all have the same set of parents or genetic traits 

No, You may not dance in my presence and think I’ll join in

No, I will not sing for you, even if I have some moderate ability

No, I will not take you to “the hood” and be your security guard

No, You may not pretend to know what it is like to be a POC in any realm. You don’t not have a struggle…Occupy Wall Street does not count. Being unemployed is new for your people.

No, You may not debate with me on any of these. I have little care for your response.