4 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people (DRAFT!) - eviltoast

Feedback welcome! Here’s the TL;DR list

  1. Listen more to more Black people
  2. Post less – and think before you post
  3. Call in, call out, and/or report anti-Blackness when you see it
  4. Support Black people and Black-led instances and projects

Other suggestions?

  • The Nexus of Privacy@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    5 months ago

    Thanks very much for the feedback, I really appreciate the time you put into it and. you bring up a lot of very good points. For “start making” vs “making” and “less toxic” vs “more welcoming”, I’m intentionally choosing the weaker forms to emphasize that these are only the very first steps. I know it’s a harder sell this way but it’s important to set expectations. It’s a good point about how some allies saying :“listen to me!” take space from marginalized groups, I kind of feel like I’ve got that covered by betweent the combination of #1 and #2 but maybe it’s worth making more explicit.

    Agreed that the discussion of repeated questions could be more explicit. (It’s not necessarily sealioning, although sometimes it is; often it’s the same one or two reasonable questions from a huge number of people.). But that’s not actually the key point I’m trying to make. Instead, to relates to this:

    the way that this point is currently worded, it sounds fallacious (inversion of the burden of the proof)

    Many people react that way but think about it a little more. It’s a fact. Mutliuple Black people have proven it repeatedly. There is no further burden of proof, it’s only whiteness’ denial that makes it seem like an open question and entitlement that makes it seem like Black people should produce more evidence. The annoyance factor is a big deal too, but it’s secondary.

    And, good catch on the typo, thanks!

    • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Choosing weaker forms sounds sensible - my criticism is which ones.

      Many people react that way but think about it a little more. It’s a fact. Mutliuple Black people have proven it repeatedly.

      Yup, I know that it’s a fact. You aren’t being fallacious, but the way that you phrased it sounds like that fallacy, so it’s a matter of clarity.

      It’s the same deal as the “post less”, you know? People are misunderstanding you.

      [from the other comment] That’s a great point, can I quote you on having seen it on Lemmy quite a few times?

      Feel free to do so! However keep in mind that I didn’t really keep track of them, so if someone says “do you have proofs?” I have no way to back it up.