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10 Brutal Truths About White Privilege That We All Need to Know

Posted byBy A Moore | Published on: CommentsComments (16)

reverse-racismWhat Reverse Racism?

Reverse racism does not exist today. Until people of color colonize, dominate and enslave the populations of the planet in the name of “colored superiority,” create beauty standards based on their own definition and force whiter-skinned people to adhere to it, enact a system where only people of color benefit on a large-scale and finally pretend like this system of privilege no longer exists, there is no such thing as reverse racism.

Prejudice, however, is real, and it is in all of us. But prejudice employed as a governing structure is a different thing entirely.

conversation on race

Black People Own the Conversation on Racism

Black people know better than Webster’s Dictionary what racism actually means. We’re living it. We don’t need it to be whitesplained to us. Webster’s and Oxford English dictionaries are largely white-controlled purveyors of language.

Black people tend to take issue with whites dictating how we should talk about racism, instead of taking our lead in the conversation. If it’s uncomfortable to talk about racism, imagine just how uncomfortable it is to live it.

Why should Blacks have to navigate emotional policing, silencing and derailing when attempting to speak up in a public forum, in a classroom, to their friends or even in news articles and columns about the racism they experience?

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

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