White journalists: Please listen to what your Black colleagues are saying today. Don’t lecture them about how that NYT op-ed was simply about the free exchange of ideas. Just stop. LISTEN TO THEM. Sit with this, do the work and try to understand what they’re feeling.
Your life is not in danger every day because of anti-Black racism. Your skin color means you are automatically afforded a level of respect and protection from law enforcement that is not extended equally to them. These things are truths.
You did not do anything to earn that respect and protection. You receive it and benefit from it every day — even if that “benefit” means simply being allowed to live — because of the accumulation of years and years and years of systemic racism.
Your Black colleagues right now are feeling a burden unlike anything most white journalists have ever felt. Black journalists are covering the news of the killing of another innocent black man. They are grappling with the hurt and anguish that comes with that. And then:
They are waking up to headlines of op-eds in their own newspapers equating the loss of black lives to the loss of buildings. Think about that. inquirer.com/news/philadelp…
They are doing their jobs and suddenly another op-ed gets published that suggests sending in the military to put down peaceful protests against police brutality. Okay. 
And they’re having to continue doing their jobs while monitoring social media feeds on which many of their white colleagues are now treating all of this as an intellectual exercise instead of as something that directly affects people’s lives. It affects people’s lives.
Their inboxes, meanwhile, are being flooded with messages from white acquaintances expecting them to drop everything and teach them and their children how to not be racist.
And through it all, they have to get up every day and face the burden or wrestling with how much of themselves to share and how much to hold back. They face the fear of not knowing whether a powerful white editor might label them an “activist” for simply speaking the truth.
If you think publicly raising the alarm about an op-ed that endangers Black lives is “activism,” you have more work to do. Those alarm bells didn’t go off for you? That’s part of the problem right now.
White journalists, you cannot understand the depth of the pain your Black colleagues are feeling. But imagine. Imagine how it must feel right now, after the killing of another innocent Black man, at a moment when rather than white Americans shrugging or denying the problem...
... it finally feels like America might be on the verge of Getting It. On the verge of an awakening that’s desperately needed but that has been avoided for far too long. Imagine how that feels. Then imagine turning on your computer or phone one day and the walls close in again.
Imagine that feeling of hope suddenly turn back to grief and anguish — as it has again and again — as your white industry colleagues rush to debate whether a prominent newspaper’s decision to publish an op-ed is harmful to you. As if they know better than you on that topic.
This is not some theoretical exercise. Your Black colleagues may not be speaking out as much as they’d like — in part because of exhaustion, and in part because of that ever-present fear of being labeled an “activist.” But they see what you’re writing. They also see your silence.
White journalists, from the interns on up to the executive editors: Every one of you needs to be here for your Black colleagues. Stop what you’re doing and listen to them. Value their expertise on this topic more than your own. And do not *ever* tell them they’re Doing It Wrong.
P.S. If you think Black reporters don't have to worry about retaliation from management over perceived "bias," this happened just today at the @PittsburghPG: pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/pit…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
