[Image ID: Ten squares with text credited to Marie Beecham @MarieBeech. Some of it is in standard typed font, and some of it is hand written. For the purposes of this transcript, written text is indicated by asterisks at the beginning and end.
Image 1: Should we say Black? *African-American? people of color…* (The words “Black” and “people of color” are crossed out, and the whole thing looks like a paper where someone is trying to figure out whether they should replace the word “Black” with something else.)
Image 2: You can say Black. Black, Black, Blackity, Black, Black! You’re German, they’re French, I’m Black. No hesitation or remorse necessary.
Discomfort with saying Black–like reluctance to acknowledge race, privilege, and oppression–reveals internalized anti-Blackness. Regardless of intention, side-stepping Black communicates that it’s taboo.
(Then there’s a list of three terms, next to a symbol indicating whether they’re ok to use or not. “Black” is OK, “Black people” is OK, but “Blacks” is not OK.)
Image 3: “It seems rude to say Black.”
Black is an insult if Black is a bad thing. Do you think being Black is bad?
Image 4: Anti-Blackness is pervasive. Often times, it takes the covert form of disassociating or “removing” someone’s Blackness.
Here are common examples:
- “I don’t think of you as Black”
- “You’re white on the inside”
- “How Black are you? What percentage?”
- “You don’t act Black”
- “You don’t talk like you’re Black”
- “You’re not like other Black people”
And you think that’s a compliment? What does that say about what you think of my race?
Image 5: We love being Black. We hate being oppressed. See the difference?
Image 6: Black is good. (This is repeated ten times in various colors; the word “Black” is the color black in all of them.)
Image 7: Black is good is a radical concept. Today’s most common racial stereotypes about Black people date all the way back to slavery. The narrative that Black people are dangerous, immoral, and unintelligent was a tactic used for oppression then, and it’s still common today. *Yikes!*
To east the cognitive dissonance that comes with being an oppressor, white people uphold the idea that Black people are lesser in character. That way, oppressing Black people [Slavery, segregation, and today, mass incarceration and systemic racism] is more defensible. This “difference of character” belief wrongfully justifies racial disparities while lessening culpability for discrimination.
It takes deliberate unlearning of intergenerational unconscious prejudice to buy into the radical, countercultural concept that Black is good.
Image 8: Context and usage–Do not reduce Black people to our race. I love having Black as part of my identity. I don’t like when Black is made to be my entire identity. For example:
“She’s Black, so she must want to talk about my Black friends, [insert racial stereotype], etc…” *Psst…I’d rather not*
“So I have this coworker–he’s Black–and anyway…” *Is that all he is? Does he have a name?*
Doing this leads to wrongful assumptions, harmful racial stereotyping, othering, and erasure of individuality. Black people are not a monolith.
Image 9: Black or African American? Some people may identify with their African roots and prefer “African American.” Most Black people prefer “Black” over “African America,” because we can’t trace our lineage, or we don’t identify as African. “African American” isn’t more proper than “Black.” They are different, and Black is its own (legitimate) culture.
Keep in mind, language is and always will be dynamic. Terminology that was standard in the past is no longer acceptable. Continually learn and adapt out of respect for people’s identities. A person’s identity is theirs, so use whatever language they want you to use. Ask them in an appropriate setting if you’re unsure. *”Please let me know if I mistakenly…” NOT “So what are you?”*
Image 10: Black is not a dirty word. (This is repeated ten times in various colors; the word “Black” is the color black in all of them.) /End ID]
