The only point of a piece like this is to blame the victim and engage in tired racist tropes that paint Black children as dangerous and older than they actually are.
I mean this literally: What other reason is there to publish this piece?
He lists a bunch of 13 year olds who have committed crimes and then writes, "What do these news stories say about Adam Toledo? Nothing."
Exactly, asshole - so why write it?
And it's not just that the column adds to already-racist cultural and media messages, it's a workplace issue! How are Black journalists & staff at the Chicago Tribune supposed to do their jobs and feel safe when editors let something like this go to print
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Let's be clear, and I'm sure others have said it: What happened here was racist misogynist terrorism usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
In the coming days we're going to read about how the shooter was a lone wolf, or that he always seemed like a nice guy. People will say that it was a random act of violence. That's all horseshit.
This was predictable and preventable.
When people talk about racist & misogynist violence like this, the implication is that it can't be stopped. It absolutely can.
But we need to gun violence, sexism, and - especially right now - anti-Asian racism more seriously.
I really tried not to tweet anything about this, but being dismissive of the online harassment women face is so wrong & dangerous.
First of all, online harassment isn't just "mean tweets" - it's pile-ons, rape and death threats, doxxing, and more.
I've had to leave my home with a baby in tow because I wasn't sure if someone was going to come to my house and kill me.
Online harassment means spending money you don't really have to hire companies to scrub the internet of all your personal info and having conversations with your kid's school & teachers about the threats directed at them, too.
I am so glad women are speaking out - not just about workplace sexual harassment, but the everyday gross behavior men subject us to nytimes.com/2021/03/01/nyr…
I also had multiple unpaid internships, double majored and worked 20 hours a week. When I went to grad school I finished a two year program in one year to save money - and did it, once again, while working.
It was fucking awful and I hope no one ever has to do the same.
None of this made me smarter, more grateful or more hard-working than anyone else. It just made life harder.
Success isn't being the most tired and broke at the end of the day.
Someone asked me a question about parenting today at my newsletter and I answered something similar: people want you to believe that you're only a good mom if you're suffering.
It's a bullshit mindset meant to keep you in your place