S/o to all those that had whites to lose! I started seeing them for what they were in 2008. I never really had any close whites in my life, but for the occasional "by marriage" affiliations, but them ones aint crazy lmao
The night Trump was elected in '16, I saw a decent chunk of my white childhood friends, show their true selves.
Even before his election, I started to part ways with other long time childhood friends, because I started remembering that I was nothing more than "the good one" to most of them. It was very difficult to unsee it. Shit, I remember one of them being scared that President Obama was going to bring back internment camps during his terms & welp, she was wrong, cuz Trump is literally doing that. Then again, it honestly really wasn't about that & just whiteness being uncomfortable with a black president; so, they allow fear & propaganda to be their bitch since the beginning of time. I haven't even told that person that I don't want to be friends anymore, but we haven't really hung out in awhile, so it's apropos, at this point. Chucked her & her hubby (also childhood friend) the deuce, like Denzel Washington & Mark Wahlberg blowing up that car in 2 Guns. Make it Rainnnnn!
I don't have time to explain my humanity to white people, even past white classmates who sadly, repeat the same white flighty tendencies over & over again. It gets tired. Then, I just stopped being sad about it & lived my life the best I can. Their self-hatred, misery, loathing, fragility is not the problem of black & brown people. Period.
Also, I had a person hit up my DM on Twitter discussing about my political tweets & when I gave her my honesty, she turned into Big Boss Fragile Susan, proclaiming she didn't want to be "interrogated". Btw, she wasn't a fellow childhood friend, but I won't specify what she does out of respect for anonymity. Incident was like 2 years ago. Honestly, at that point, I started being OK with myself & it just went from there. I definitely need to pick up Howard Bryant's book & I've been read Conflict is not Abuse, and wow, it's a revelation. I love it.
Michelle - 4 years ago
I didn't lose any white friends because of Trump since I already kept most of my white acquaintances who I suspect are the MAGA type at a distance before Trump arrived. The racism isn't new.
Nicole S. - 4 years ago
I didn’t lose white friends specifically over Trump but I have let a few relationships go or fade into the background over events that precipitated Trump’s rise - e.g. a distinct lack of empathy after the Charleston massacre. I have/had a white friend that distanced herself during Trump’s first year after I told her that I didn’t trust her new “liberal” boyfriend who chose to name his dog after a famous Nazi who some inaccurately try to paint as a “good” Nazi.
ShayDeeDame - 4 years ago
The Reading Rainbow segment spoke to my SPIRIT. My first husband was black and passed away 11 years ago, and about 6 years ago, I met a white guy and we were married this past summer.
My second husband is from mostly white, insanely wealthy Corte Madera, Ca. Our relationship has endured all of the Trump drama, but that's mostly because we have always had an open dialogue about race.
His daughter from his previous marriage is biracial, and that hasn't stopped him from knowing that his biracial daughter has privilege that my kids, who are unambiguously black simply doesn't have.
I let him know mighty early that the bar for him is higher because of his race, and he needs to fight harder for ALL of blackness, as a "tax" for aligning himself with blackness. He is required to be at every BLM rally, he has to fight to the death for our kids when they face racism living in a city where I can go DAYS without seeing another black face. When his frat bros are being assholes, call those fuckers OUT.
Unfortunately, I didn't have that conversation with someone that I have considered a best friend for over 25 years. Don't ask why, I just didn't think that I needed to have that talk with my bestie, and that bitch not only voted for Trump, she is proud of that fact. It breaks my heart because we almost raised one another's kids, she was there when my first husband and my dad passed away. Now she is one of those mindless Trumpians.
Over the last few years, I have stepped away from our friendship, because she is turning out to be a whole mess. I say allllllll of this to just sum it up with the James Baldwin quote "“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression".
S/o to all those that had whites to lose! I started seeing them for what they were in 2008. I never really had any close whites in my life, but for the occasional "by marriage" affiliations, but them ones aint crazy lmao
The night Trump was elected in '16, I saw a decent chunk of my white childhood friends, show their true selves.
Even before his election, I started to part ways with other long time childhood friends, because I started remembering that I was nothing more than "the good one" to most of them. It was very difficult to unsee it. Shit, I remember one of them being scared that President Obama was going to bring back internment camps during his terms & welp, she was wrong, cuz Trump is literally doing that. Then again, it honestly really wasn't about that & just whiteness being uncomfortable with a black president; so, they allow fear & propaganda to be their bitch since the beginning of time. I haven't even told that person that I don't want to be friends anymore, but we haven't really hung out in awhile, so it's apropos, at this point. Chucked her & her hubby (also childhood friend) the deuce, like Denzel Washington & Mark Wahlberg blowing up that car in 2 Guns. Make it Rainnnnn!
I don't have time to explain my humanity to white people, even past white classmates who sadly, repeat the same white flighty tendencies over & over again. It gets tired. Then, I just stopped being sad about it & lived my life the best I can. Their self-hatred, misery, loathing, fragility is not the problem of black & brown people. Period.
Also, I had a person hit up my DM on Twitter discussing about my political tweets & when I gave her my honesty, she turned into Big Boss Fragile Susan, proclaiming she didn't want to be "interrogated". Btw, she wasn't a fellow childhood friend, but I won't specify what she does out of respect for anonymity. Incident was like 2 years ago. Honestly, at that point, I started being OK with myself & it just went from there. I definitely need to pick up Howard Bryant's book & I've been read Conflict is not Abuse, and wow, it's a revelation. I love it.
I didn't lose any white friends because of Trump since I already kept most of my white acquaintances who I suspect are the MAGA type at a distance before Trump arrived. The racism isn't new.
I didn’t lose white friends specifically over Trump but I have let a few relationships go or fade into the background over events that precipitated Trump’s rise - e.g. a distinct lack of empathy after the Charleston massacre. I have/had a white friend that distanced herself during Trump’s first year after I told her that I didn’t trust her new “liberal” boyfriend who chose to name his dog after a famous Nazi who some inaccurately try to paint as a “good” Nazi.
The Reading Rainbow segment spoke to my SPIRIT. My first husband was black and passed away 11 years ago, and about 6 years ago, I met a white guy and we were married this past summer.
My second husband is from mostly white, insanely wealthy Corte Madera, Ca. Our relationship has endured all of the Trump drama, but that's mostly because we have always had an open dialogue about race.
His daughter from his previous marriage is biracial, and that hasn't stopped him from knowing that his biracial daughter has privilege that my kids, who are unambiguously black simply doesn't have.
I let him know mighty early that the bar for him is higher because of his race, and he needs to fight harder for ALL of blackness, as a "tax" for aligning himself with blackness. He is required to be at every BLM rally, he has to fight to the death for our kids when they face racism living in a city where I can go DAYS without seeing another black face. When his frat bros are being assholes, call those fuckers OUT.
Unfortunately, I didn't have that conversation with someone that I have considered a best friend for over 25 years. Don't ask why, I just didn't think that I needed to have that talk with my bestie, and that bitch not only voted for Trump, she is proud of that fact. It breaks my heart because we almost raised one another's kids, she was there when my first husband and my dad passed away. Now she is one of those mindless Trumpians.
Over the last few years, I have stepped away from our friendship, because she is turning out to be a whole mess. I say allllllll of this to just sum it up with the James Baldwin quote "“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression".