Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Michael Harriot Profile picture
@michaelharriot
Oct 12, 2021 • 15 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
I wonder what would happen if this story was told another way?

Like this, for instance:

A thread.
One time, there was this guy named Jon who was a coach for the Oakland Raiders. He was not racist. He worked with an executive named Bruce. Bruce was not racist, either. They were part of the NFL, which is also not racist.
But then Jon left and moved to Tampa and won a super bowl with the players from the previous coach’s team. The previous coach was Black.

When Jon started coaching his own players after the Super Bowl, his team was terrible. So he hired his executive friend who was not racist
But Jon still sucked. So ESPN, who is not racist, hired Jon, who is not racist to broadcast games for the NFL, which was not racist.

Meanwhile Bruce, who was not racist, went to work for the Washington Redskins, which was not racist.
That’s when Jon & Bruce began trading racist email. And I know what you’re thinking. But just because Bruce was writing & receiving racist emails while he was the PRESIDENT & GM of a team with a racist name, doesn’t make him racist!
And just because Jon typed racist things to Bruce while Bruce was working at the not-racist team with the racist name doesn’t make racist! Doing racist things shouldn’t make you a racist! When Jon typed that a black dude had “lips the size of Michelin tires,” it wasn’t racial! Image
Jon didn’t even say he had “rubber lips.” He mentioned the SIZE. But it want racial!

And just because the guy at the team with the racist name didn’t say ANYTHING, it doesn’t mean he’s racist!

And ESPN is DEFINITELY not racist!
How can an organization be racist? Of course, their employees keep getting recorded saying racist stuff but it doesn’t make them racist!

And it doesn’t mean the NFL is racist just because they employed a GM who didn’t say anything when he received racist emails!
They are not racist just because they didn’t do anything when these racist emails emerged!

And just because the NFL is run by owners who kicked a guy out of the league for doing much less, it doesn’t make them racist.

They’re cool with Jay-Z!
guess how NOT RACIST the NFL is?

They let the guy who stayed silent about the racist emails hire the guy who was sending the racist emails to be the head coach of the team with a racist name!

Also they had a team with a racist name. But who’s counting? Image
When all of this emerged, the not-racist NFL didn’t do anything. The not-racist network did nothing. They didn’t get together like they did with Kaepernick. They didn’t suspend anyone. They didn’t change rules. And here’s the thing:

They ALL really believe they’re not RACIST!
They honestly think that racism is unlike anything else that ever existed in the history in the world. If you farm, then you are a “farmer.”

But, for some reason, you can DO RACIST THINGS things and still swear you aren’t racist.
You can have racist people RUN YOUR ORGANIZATION and not be a racist organization. You can even HAVE A RACIST NAME and PUT YOUR RACISM IN WRITING and no one—not “objective” newspapers who won’t even point out the lie YOU SAID DIRECTLY TO THEM…

“Rubber lips…” GTFOH
And most of all, you can allow the racist to be racist and say nothing.

If it were a robbery, you’d be an accomplice. If it were a white woman, they’d be held civilly liable. But it’s just a white man talking to a white man so, doing nothing about it doesn’t mean Jon’s racist.
But I don’t even dislike Jon Gruden. In fact, actually don’t have an anti-Gruden bone in my body

This could’ve an email.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Michael Harriot

Michael Harriot Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @michaelharriot

Michael Harriot Profile picture
Sep 4
Well actually…

A thread.
I’m sure you think I’m gonna mention Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the Black fur trader who is known as the first non-indigenous resident of Chicago.

But du Sable was not enslaved when he moved to the mouth of the Chicago river in 1790.

So who TF was buying furs?
Well, remember all that was French territory. In 1719 French entrepreneur Philippe François Renault hopped in a boat in the South of France, stopped in Haiti to purchase 200-500 humans beings & headed to “Upper Louisiana”

By 1760, 900 ppl were enslaved in “Illinois Country” Image
Read 15 tweets
Michael Harriot Profile picture
Aug 12
There's a long history of sending military officers into Black cities to stop "crime."

In fact, I'd argue that this is what caused the Democrat & GOP realignment

The story involves gangbangers, bowling, a stolen election & the civil rights era's bloodiest event

A thread:
First of all, when people say it's "unconstitutional" to use the military against civilians, they're not EXACTLY wrong.

It's ILLEGAL.

It began when violent gangbangers & anti-American thugs were causing problems in Democrat-run cities and whining about voter suppression Image
After the Civil War, the traitors who betrayed their country returned to the Democrat-controlled South with their asses thoroughly kicked.

Many patriotic Americans wanted to arrest them for treason, but the prisons were already full.

Don't blame them. It's their culture. Image
Read 52 tweets
Michael Harriot Profile picture
Jul 30
Literally none of this is true.

By now, it has become apparent that this man is much dumber than people initially thought, but here is why this specific act of ignorance is so common.

A thread.
"Slavery was standard practice throughout earth..."

Let's start here.

While MOST societies (not all) had forms of involuntary subjugation, people who don't know things use their ignorance and privilege to flatten the idea of slavery.
I always found it funny that ppl who say "slavery existed in every society," also LOVE to differentiate between indentured servants and enslaved people.

Like this guy: Image
Read 21 tweets
Michael Harriot Profile picture
Jan 10
Whitewashing the uncomfortable parts of the past doesn't just affect Black stories. For example, you can't fully appreciate how a peanut farmer from Plains, GA became a beloved president unless you know TRUE Black History.

The unwhitewashed history of Jimmy Carter:

A thread.
Jimmy Carter was a simple peanut farmer who grew up in Plains, GA when the deep South was defined by racism. His family taught him not to see color. Instead of asking for handouts, they focused on God, education and...

OK, none of that happened.
First of all, to understand where Jimmy Carter comes from, you have to go back a few generations. Because you probably already know a few of his cousins.

In fact, he might not even be the most famous person in his family. But I'll let you decide.
Read 24 tweets
Michael Harriot Profile picture
Jan 9
There's a very interesting connection between Mark Zuckerberg's right-wing turn and the guy who might be the most powerful person in American media. I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, so...

A thread.
First of all, let's be clear. Mark Zuckerberg's didn't just announce changes to Meta's content moderation policy. He didn't even announce that Meta's content policy will change.

He announced that his company is willing to help kill people.

How?
First of all, replacing fact-checking with community notes doesn't just mean misinformation and hate will spread, it means people will die because of it.

For instance , Facebook removed MILLIONS of posts containing COVID misinformation.

cbsnews.com/news/mark-zuck…
Read 33 tweets
Michael Harriot Profile picture
Jan 4
If anyone knows anything about “wokeness” CRT, the national anthem and being a real American, it’s Brett Favre

A (short) thread
Brett Favre is a descendant of Simon Favre, a famous“interpreter” who could speak multiple native languages.

Simon entered the family business at a young age and owned dozens of slaves and 100s of acres

But that wasn’t the family business.

The Favres stole land Image
The scam worked like this:

The Favres would move near a native tribe, earn their trust and convince native Americans that giving up their land & assimilating was in their best interest.

In exchange, they could keep some of the stolen land

Simon was BORN FOR THIS Image
Image
Read 21 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(