Thread by @usnehal

One thing you learn

when as a WOC/POC, a Muslim woman/man, LGBTQ, disabled person, neurodiverse person or any other non-standard person

is when you
-show authenticity
-express oneself
-lead
-seek standards & ethics

you can & will be labeled as “toxic” by toxic Amy Cooper types

What we can learn from the #insurrection #CapitolRiots of “this is our house” is that open, public spaces are what white supremacists consider theirs.

An Obama supporter like #AmyCooper in #NYC CAN still perpetuate a culture of #whitesupremacy

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Also, be aware of the phrase I learned of late: “not all skin folk are kin folk” - not everyone is “fam” even if they have appropriated the phrase.

The “model minority” is often seeking to advance self by validating status quo, aligned with power.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

I can “pass” in many ways. I am lighter skinned. My name is not clearly Muslim. I do, tho, experience the fear that my >6 foot tall nephew who can grow a full beard will be treated like a terrorist or my hard of hearing dad will get shot while trying to park in a TX parking lot.

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1347932084959121410

There are important things to unpack on the “model minority” who often had internalized racism as well as colorism.

There is still bias the so-called “model minority” experiences.

That actually reinforces “imposter syndrome” & an intense need for belonging, affirmation.

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1267155127196176387

Grateful there is a growing number of people who are aware of how our communities can both be discriminated against and the source of anti-blackness apart from the American version of it. It takes a level of calm, introspection, & thoughtfulness to work through this complexity

https://twitter.com/laxswamy/status/1268964899612291072

In comparison some reactive people fail to read what is actually tweeted

react prematurely (to their own wounded self image?)

they assume
or they assume other is assuming (projecting self?)

block rather than seek to understand

People:
vet & validate
read actual words
*sigh*

That was one of a multitude of examples where a POC being anti-racist or identifying anti-blackness

being an ally

caused someone (who took it personally, without reading actual words) to choose
take offense & block
over
verify or understand

Fits what @mdawriter describes here

https://twitter.com/mdawriter/status/1257023276100050945

The problem *is* within.. but NOT within the BIPOC and/or ally whose words or identity are not even read or verified

rather are within the person whose bias, fear, paranoia, offended ego has to be placated and accommodated

thus the rational response can become anxiety

https://twitter.com/gboladi/status/1354844908226396161

For example, by all accounts, Dr. @ayshakhoury was authentic and vulnerable when she fulfilled her faculty duty in a small group. Perhaps her “mistake” was insufficient anxiety to water it down and instead offered real teaching.

Result: she was fired without due process.

https://twitter.com/ayshakhoury/status/1352675410429890560

Another tweet from @gboladi in the retribution and blowback for doing anti-racism or authentic (not just optics of) #DEI work.

The key word here is #ethics.

If we had more ethics than “empathy” (latter invoked to avoid accountability) we could make progress on racism.

https://twitter.com/gboladi/status/1349113050482188288

If we had ethics and consistent enforcement of the same standards we would not have these disparities and travesties in the “justice” system or showing up as #BlackintheIvory.

We need institutions to be ethical.

https://twitter.com/derenicbyrd/status/1352559036915310594

That last tweet is on the “justice system” but it starts LONG before any interaction with law enforcement. Schools are NOT safe places for all. The number of teachers participating in white supremacist insurrection is just the tip of the iceberg.

csmonitor.com/USA/Education/…

You have “school resource officers” or cops in schools that Amy Cooper type or insurrectionist-attending teachers may call

resulting in these outcomes

she seems unconscious w/ head injury

this is not rare or a one off but the culture in schools as early as kindergarten.

https://twitter.com/newsone/status/1354456640733519874

The preschool to prison pipeline = criminalization of primarily black but also brown or Muslim children as young as 3 years old.

The mobs screaming at Ruby Bridges, requiring armed escort to protect a little girl, did not go away. Some of those full of hate are teachers.

In England this happens towards Muslim children as young as four.

Child draws a picture of dad cutting salad? Teacher interpreted that as a bomb and turns child in.

Why are adults attempting to see bombs in four year olds’ drawings? Are schools safe?

theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/m…

Yet when an adult man is reported as building bombs by his girlfriend and she is scared of him, she is the one taken to a mental health facility and he is not investigated further, no warrant obtained.

He went on the be the Nashville Christmas Day white terror suicide bomber.

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1344423655955177473

Been raising alarm on this since before 2018 (implicit bias, racism, criminalizing children based on race or religion)

but there is a only a small group who already do social justice work who interact with these tweets

#MedTwitter lacks authentic “empathy” or compassion

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1002641027176501253