RareBlackCat

♡ Hiddentail ♡ She/Her

[rareblackside]

Intro post

Main blog: @rareblackcat

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Name: Nadia "Hiddentail" Nightheart

Age: 19

Race: Black American

Plurality: Median collective

ΘΔ Identity: Werecat Therian

Gender: CatWoman (She/Her)

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[cyanide-sippy-cup]

For anybody not caught up: Tennessee just passed a new map that pretty much makes it so black neighborhoods have no power in local votes. Two things about this. While protestors were chanting "No Jim Crow", white Tennessee lawmakers were caught laughing on video. On top of this, Representative Justin Pearson and his brother KeShaun Pearson were arrested for trying to give their takes on the matter (which is not only their legal right but literally his job). If you give a shit about black people, help fight this. We can't allow a return to Jim Crow.

[throo]

Only thing from the Met Gala that matters btw

[sigynsilica]

I needed some pictures that showcase the full look she's got on and show off her amazing hairstyle here you go ✨✨✨

Incredibly classy and iconic :)

[clonehub]

I hate you epitome of innocence being represented with blonde hair I hate you lightness representing goodness I hate you "angelic features" automatically being read as blonde hair and blue eyed with pale skin I hate you whiteness as the default for morality I HATE YOU I HATE YOU

[clonehub]

Guess who's being the most annoying on this post

[clonehub]

this post isnt about blondes and how its so unfair to them that theyre always viewed as good healthy holy morally upright outstanding people no matter what this post is about racism its about colorism its about white supremacy making people with dark features and skin literally feel evil. this is not about your stupid disney princesses or achilles or your fave anime boys being allowed to be unhinged feral shitty awful people and this sure as hell is not an opportunity for blonde people themselves to show their entire pasty flat asses and beg praise for "breaking the stereotype" by being shitty unhinged people. fandom people you are 192% of the problem. white people in general you are 1,000% the origin of the problem. this site is so unbearably white my GOD

[autistichalsin]

The test for allyship isn't how you treat an oppressed person who is your friend, family, spouse. It's how you treat an oppressed person you absolutely can't stand who is vile and loathsome in every way.

Do you gender trans people correctly even when they're being absolutely terrible people? Do you refuse to use the r-slur against someone who suicide baited you but is neurodivergent? Do you refuse to snark at a mentally ill person who is being genuinely unpleasant, "go take your meds!"

Do you allow members of marginalized groups to be terrible people without judging their entire demographic for it? One of the most invisible yet vital forms of privilege is the right to be terrible people as an individual rather than as a group. Do you acknowledge that there are bad people in every group, that it doesn't make their group less worth fighting for? Or do you shake your head if you happen to get mistreated by some who belong to a group and insist the entire group is awful and not worth your allyship?

Oppressed people can see how you treat those of us you like, but do you still treat the worst of us with the basic dignity you treat the worst of other groups with?

[creatingblackcharacters]

“The Advantages of Being Quiet”- The Policing of Black Emotions

“…amongst the minor nuisances of a West India town, are whistling and singing… Negroes are very fond of these execrable accomplishment- execrable as practiced by them; for as they have stentorian organs of noise… A negro never seems to be happy but when he is yelling and bawling, whistling or singing, and he cannot understand the advantages of quiet.”

-Five Years Residence in the West Indies, Volume II- Charles William Day

Have you heard these things before:

Everyone claims the Black Character is boring... But then suddenly, White Character that is both the fan favorite and canonically nothing like that, suddenly has some extremely familiar qualities...

There will be Black characters- often women- that are close to an MC, but those characters will be ignored for someone irrelevant who receives an entire plot line... Because somehow it wasn’t possible for the Black character to fill that role despite doing so...

Black people are in a public place, and they are laughing. People are uncomfortable because they’re ‘too loud’… but have never once spoken up against loud white people, men in particular, taking up just as much space and sound.

A Black person says their perspective online, speaking from a place of emotion because they are directly affected… and no one listens or shares, worried that it’s ‘too aggressive’ and will cause conflict. But a white person will share that same perspective, in ‘nice words’ or maybe even really obnoxiously, and suddenly that perspective is shareable, understandable… safe.

This really ought not to have been a lesson, that somehow our feelings are not… understandable or acceptable. In a way, it feels extremely demeaning, to have to explain something that is so innately connected with the human experience. Everything that I’ve talked about before is going to apply here, because the truth is, it doesn’t matter how good the writing and characterization is if you aren’t willing or capable of comprehending the characters due to your own pre-existing bias for Black people and our emotions. So if you haven’t read my prior lessons, particularly the stereotype series… roll on back first.

"it's gonna be a long lesson?" Yes. It very much tis.

“The Black character (person) just isn’t relatable!”

People will often claim, with no sense of shame or forethought, that they don’t “relate” to the Black characters “as much”, and they don’t see that on the flip side of that, they do not offer grace or objective understanding for the Black characters “as much”. I shouldn’t have to be the same type of person you are in order to understand you! To even want to understand you!

Not only will they not understand Black characters, but in a misguided effort to interact with Black characters, will project their own biases onto them: they’ll make the Black character something they are not in order to fit what they unconsciously believe Blackness should be. This happens with real Black people as well- the biases don’t come from nowhere!

This includes but is not limited to emotions often associated with this antiblackness: anger, meanness, sneakiness, aggression, hypersexuality, arrogance.

Meanwhile, the emotions we are often really expressing are things we aren’t supposed to be: sad, scared, hurt, offended, threatened, anxious, confused, confident, happy.

Very often, our emotions are perceived as ‘dangerous’. How many times has a Black person dared to speak up against something and been accused of being a ‘bot’, a ‘psyop’, of ‘propaganda’? As if, by having an unfamiliar perspective that conflicts with your comfortable status quo, they must not be someone real- their emotions, their pain, must not be real. It must be a ploy to affect the emotions of the real people that matter, because surely the Black people THEY imagine would not seek to disturb their peace with their reality…

It’s odd, believing the only Black people that are real, are the ones that serve you, and the ones that don’t, aren’t real or are threats. It’s a form of antiblackness that has existed, at least in the US, since the abolition of slavery. A mindset that has been exported globally with the rest of the United States’ hegemony- so yes, it is a common mentality with nonblack people of color globally, to think that Black people are speaking ‘out of their place’.

“Uppity”

If you’ve ever been in a public comment section of literally any Black creator being happy, confident, charismatic, self-respecting, proud of themselves, or even just minding their own business with a smile… You’ll find a range of people who make it a point to be vocally uncomfortable about it. From overt racism to covert yet equally if not more infuriating accusations of ‘bragging’ and even ‘narcissism’. As if I need permission to be happy, that my happiness means someone else is lacking. As if the only way to be appropriate is to have humility for online strangers, despite my successes having nothing to do with your failures.

This is not me saying that arrogance doesn’t happen! This is me saying that a lot of times, what y’all consider arrogance is not because it actually is arrogant, but because you are uncomfortable with our confidence, particularly when we don’t weigh it against your societal approval but against our own.

Think about the quote I posted earlier. West Indian Black people whistling and singing while doing all the labor that white bodies don’t wanna do, and Charles William Day has the audacity to say that their singing is “stentorian” (too loud) and “execrable” (terrible). As if it is an inconvenience to him, to their society, to have to HEAR the Black people whose lives they have captured and enslaved for their own benefit!

An example of this is the “shut up and dribble” situation. During the height of Black Lives Matter, Black athletes were speaking out about injustices towards Black Americans, and this pissed off a LOT of people who expected them to… well, shut the fuck up and dribble. As if their only value was in entertaining audiences, but not to consider their humanity. Because you’re not supposed to be heard!

Another example of this is when Black people aren’t sorry. This is one of my favorite and most commonly used tactics against racists and racism- and it always works. I’ve stopped apologizing for respecting myself, for pointing out when I’ve been mistreated and standing on that, for demanding that I’m the one who deserves respect.

You would not believe how angry that makes a lot of people! If a Black person is not willing to be demeaned or is nonplussed, it throws off the equilibrium. Socially we’ve taught Black people to lower their heads and be non-intimidating for the sake of maintaining order- not peace, order. But at this point, if you’re already intimidated or insulted due to my Blackness, then there’s no point in lowering myself any further!

Consider Afroman’s two trials:

To be clear: Afroman is Black MAGA 😅 this is not to say he is a role model. HOWEVER! This court case showed that as much as he might want to dance for white conservatives, at the end of the day he is Still Black and Still Subject to what that means. Which means, he was supposed to bend the knee and submit here when the police raided his home. Instead, he was not sorry! They tried to LEGALLY- in a court of law- use the embarrassment and tears of the white woman cop who barged into his home illegally and threatened his and his children’s life. And it didn’t work. Not only was he not sorry, but he mocked them- publicly! And won! Despite the on-stand display of white woman tears and white male insecurity… he still won! That’s not the norm, but it goes to show that hurt feelings do not equal violation of rights.

It’s much harder to deal with when it comes to the professional world; unlike people’s bad takes online, not bending your head to microaggressions at work may cost you a job. Once again, it’s why racism is more than hurt feelings- as demeaned as I may feel, when I am in a room where Whiteness is the prevailing mindset, I cannot always risk respect over loss of livelihood.

As an extreme example of this: we’ve discussed the Mammy and the Uncle Tom in prior lessons, so I won’t repeat myself with definitions. But the core part of why these archetypes were so palatable to white people as the standard of Good Blacks is because they were “selfless”. They never questioned authority, they always placed the needs of others over their own, their role was to coddle and comfort Whiteness, to act as though being a slave was the most natural thing they could be to prioritize their owners. Consider what the alternative of not obeying a slave master/mistress was!

“I’ve never seen this before” Yes, you have. If you have never seen it called out, it’s because you haven’t spent a lot of time around Black people that trust you. It reminds me of the time someone said ‘that parents demand respect, but what they mean is authority’. The world expects to have authority over Black expression, and is appalled when we reject that.

“Isn’t That a Stereotype?”

I admit, I am getting a bit exhausted of this question. Not even because I don’t want to encourage curiosity or understanding- I am glad that we’re trying to avoid being racist! But it is tiring to realize that people believe stereotypes are ‘Black people not behaving’, essentially. Of Black people being “bad” and people seeing it. As if antiblack stereotypes are because of Black people and not the racists that came up with them, as if that mindset is not equally as racist.

Black people shouldn’t have to be ‘good’ for you to not treat them as inhuman. When I think of all that villainous and antagonistic white characters in media- why can’t it be like that? Why is it that white people don’t have to defend their entire race every time one of them is violent on screen? Especially when- being honest- people of color have a lot more reason to believe that that white violence is more likely in real life? Why do I have to explain why a Black person doing things on screen is not a reflection of ALL of us?

Anywho, I chose movies that were emotionally charged as low branch examples. All of our stories deserve to be told, but if you can only stomach the easy ones, of course you’ll never realize just how much of the bad you’ve internalized. Can you watch a movie with us (and UNDERSTAND it) in a nuanced light? The way you would expect your own story to be treated and understood?

Moonlight

Y’all want to know about how it might be for a closeted gay Black boy in the hood growing into a closeted young gay Black man, this is certainly an option. For taking us through the journey of a dark-skinned queer Black boy?? And how he grows big and strong but is still quiet and unsure, the way society acts like he cannot be?? Because he’s from the hood?? As if those experiences are mutually exclusive? Masterclass in writing and acting. Beautiful movie all around, all Black cast. It deserved film of the year.

Moonlight is a story that, for all intents and purposes, Tumblr should have loved. Angst, gay, bad parenting and seeking forgiveness, found family and mentorship, discovering sexuality while being in love with the straight best friend, compulsory heterosexuality, the homoeroticism of the trials of boyhood, vengeance on the childhood bully, reconciliation, touch starvation and yearning... Tumblr LOVES these concepts. So why is Moonlight not held as a top standard of this sort of storytelling? How many of you- at least if you're in the United States- have even watched it?

All the moments Little Chiron (pronounced SHY-roan) had with Juan and Teresa, the way he suffered deeply with his own drug-addicted, tormented mother and his peers, his confusion for his sexuality with Kevin. It warms my heart to see Chiron had SOMEBODY willing to show him kindness, in a world that felt like it had none for him. So often little Black children are abandoned to deal with their own emotions because God forbid they have any. It can fester into anger. But the moment he felt safe, he began to open up.

I loved to see how YES, his mentor Juan (Afro-Cuban!!!) is a drug dealer. However, that does not make him a stereotype- you see how he helps the community around him, how he was willing to pick a severely depressed and scared child from inside an abandoned drug den, feed him, and take him in, teach him how to swim, and began teaching him how to self-actualize. They even sat down and had an open, honest conversation about his sexuality when someone called Chiron a f****t. This was all in the first thirty minutes! The movie is two hours!

So… why doesn’t Tumblr love and adore this movie? Why doesn’t anyone see their queer experience in Chiron? Why doesn’t anyone write endless meta? Why don’t Chiron and Kevin have endless coffee AUs and fantasy worlds and canon fix-its (not that I would want any of that)? I can give you a hint, but I’m sure you figured it out.

Precious

TW: incest, sexual assault, parental abuse, ableism

Hard watch. Monique truly portrayed the villain of the year. The novel, Push, was hard too. I didn’t fully understand it as a middle schooler when I read it, but walking in as an adult, I realized quickly it was going to be HARD. Anybody who has had traumatic experience with incest or sexual abuse, this movie probably isn’t for you.

Precious is from the perspective of Claireece, a dark-skinned, fat Black teenager who struggles with writing, spelling, multiple forms of abuse and PTSD, trying to better her life despite the odds. You want to know how to write this kind of story without being stereotypical? Because here’s the thing- a lot of people within the story at the beginning treat Precious like a stereotype, like a statistic. But Precious herself is the voice of her diary! You understand how her reality and mentality is warped due to the life she’s lived! She is the victim! Hers is the voice that is centered! She is not the statistic that they belittle her to be- she’s human!

Within the first ten minutes of the movie, the principal threatens to suspend Claireece for being pregnant with her second child at 16. “Is there something going on at home”- there is OBVIOUSLY something going on at home for this to be a reoccurring situation. Nonetheless, society consistently punishes Claireece for her circumstances. There is always SOMETHING standing in the way- bullies, bills, standardized testing, the social workers, her own parents. Because who would love a fat, dark-skinned, Black girl that can’t read? It must be her fault!

And that is not just something that the story tells us to feel- that is something that people genuinely feel already, reflected by the story! Society consistently lets down its most marginalized, blaming them for ‘badness’, ‘unworthiness’. Does that mean that these stories don’t deserve to be told? Because they are judged as ‘bad’?

Or Precious’ abuse- some Black children have abusive parents!  But her mother is not a bad mother because she’s Black, and that’s the part that we have to be able to separate. We see that there are good Black people throughout this story who are trying, in varying levels, to reach her. Claireece herself wants to be a good mother to her children, no matter how they came about.

To be clear: her mother is a terrible person! Anyone that forces their child to eat, blames them for their own sexual abuse and weight gain, calls the child with Down Syndrome born of that abuse “Mongoloid”, doesn’t even know her own child’s birthday, and even more Truly Unspeakable things- horrible person!! No question!

But if you’re watching this movie with the expectation that that’s how Black mothers are (evil welfare queens and bad mothers), or if you are not taking the time to recognize that it’s she herself that is the problem, then that is all you’ll perceive! Because I can find a long list of evil white mothers- does that mean we should never discuss those stories? That you’re all terrible?

There is still beauty in the story! Her trauma and her circumstances are not all she is- her multicultural friends at the alternative school get along, they show up for her pregnancy, they write stories! She has a good (lesbian!) Black teacher! She’s learning! Her son is born healthy and surrounded with love! She gets her daughter back!

It is not that Claireece was guaranteed to live the life that she had because of who she is, it’s just one story of an infinite amount. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to be understood with dignity. Our stories shouldn’t have to be perfect to be told.

A “Universal” Perspective

We read White Tears/Brown Scars in #CBC Book Club, so I won’t go into deep details when you can find the quotes and even read it yourself. In short, it is about the insidiousness of White Womanhood and how it actively contributes to white supremacy throughout history while masquerading as a net benefit for all women. I have said before that I don’t like watching TV and movies with a white woman as the main character anymore. And I know saying that will have me accused of misogyny. However, it works for the example I’m about to explain.

The reality is, I’ve spent my entire life watching things from the perspective of white women. I’ve been told that this perspective is something I need to prioritize as much as my own, that this perspective is a sign of my own power and presence. And frankly, while I have been able to enjoy it, I’ve grown to realize that this perspective is often in conflict with what I have known to be... Well, white women. I have been told my entire life that y’all represent the underdog, the victim, the one that has to rise up above, girl boss girl power. And that makes sense... From a misogyny perspective!

But from a race perspective... the way I see white women portrayed is not the experience that I have had. They are not powerless, they are not the underdog, they are not the one that needs the come up, very often they have been the actual antagonists when it comes to women and people of color! You have not been forced to see my experience the way I have been forced to live through yours. And I don’t enjoy doing that as much anymore, especially when I also have to consider it in real life, the way mine... Won’t be.

And yet, that experience hasn’t stopped me from objectively understanding a white female character when a story is told. I don’t see an image of one ‘bad’ white woman on screen and assume “well, this must be what the expectation for real life white women is”. Because I’ve interacted with real life white women and know they can do and be a whole of things. So why is that mentality not respected in kind? Why is that not something that white and nonblack people can do for us, and our stories?

Literally Policed Emotions

As I explained earlier, one of the most powerful tools in white supremacy’s tool belt was treating our emotions as invalid, as dangerous, as threatening. By constantly making us question our voices, question even using them, it is bullying everyone into being silent about their systemic abuse.

So I asked my Black viewers these questions, and I found a couple interesting patterns amongst the responses. One of them was that a lot of people would claim that they weren’t being policed... Before proceeding to describe the obvious policing of their emotions. And it’s sad, in a way, that it’s so normalized to close oneself up in anticipation of poor treatment that we don’t see that!

“If I don’t do something wrong, this person won’t hit me.” That is a quote of someone being abused, dear! The fear or concern to emote didn’t come from you naturally being afraid- if you were worried about experiencing what others are experiencing for emoting while Black, THAT is a part of being policed!

Just like policing in real life. The police presence isn’t just active, it’s the threat of being harmed. The threat of their existence, of knowing what would happen if you went against ‘the rules’. Of what would happen if they were called. If you walked into a room and knew you wouldn’t be accepted for yourself without conflict and therefore did not try... If you hid who you were to avoid problems… I would call that policing!

For those who are nonblack reading this: knowing that Black people are often hiding their full range of emotions from you… how does that make you feel? Do you want them to show those emotions? Are you willing to accept the discomfort that may come with them expressing them openly? Are you safe?

Offering Grace

When we were playing South of Midnight, I noticed how frustrated with Hazel my husband got during one of the chapters. And to be fair, she was deeply incorrect and willfully blind, and it had devastating consequences! The chapter was meant to be that moment of failure for Hazel, of a deep miscalculation on her end! Every hero is meant to have one!

The thing is... She is a child. She is allowed to be wrong. We are allowed to be wrong in the narrative! Especially Black girls and women, God knows there’s a higher expectation for us to either always be right or let down the entirety of what is “required” for us to be respected. We are expected to carry heavy weight and NEVER express upset with any of it- which, ironically enough, was a major part of Lacey and Laurent’s- Hazel’s mother and her ex- story! Emotions and dealing with them is a major theme of the game!

Disconcerted, I discussed the bias with him. That we have to be willing to allow Black characters to be wrong, to go through the traumas, to lash out, to misunderstand, to go through the messiness of the human experience. We don’t have to like what they do, but we cannot expect them... To never do it.

We especially cannot judge them for doing so on a different level that we do their nonblack counterparts... And that happens a lot! I cannot stand the Precocious White Girl character, where she ends up hurting those she loves thinking she’s in the right, and the narrative, if not outright agreeing, offers her the grace to fix it. Not because she doesn’t deserve the chance, but because I envy the opportunity to do so.

Hazel gets the chance to redeem herself, to grow, to do better in the next chapter, and it was so nice.

But I’m always asking people to remember that the same way everyone else gets to have a moment of weakness, of wrong, of confusion... Allow Black characters, Black people, that grace! Our entire image should not fall apart just because you were- however consciously or not- looking for a reason not to care about us. Stories would be pretty boring if everyone was always happy and always correct all the time! If we only told stories where everyone did everything right, we wouldn’t have a lot of myths, legends, and fairy tales!

Treat People The Way You/They Wanna Be Treated

This first one is one we all learned in like... Second grade. “Golden rule”. The goal was to teach us empathy. And I can tell that, in the Internet age, we are all deeply lacking in it. If you wouldn’t want someone to judge you at your lowest moment- especially when it isn’t a reflection of you, but of your stress in the circumstances- maybe you should take the time to consider that for others.

And no, I’m not saying that the response with every emotion is valid. Obviously not. However, there’s a difference between someone being a horrible person consistently through their actions, and someone having a horrible day and responding poorly, and you thinking this must mean that they are a horrible person. Remember what I said about the stereotypes- is your character an Angry Black Woman, or is she a Black woman that is angry? Because Black women are allowed to be angry! Is your character a Hypersexualized Mandingo, or is he a Black man with a high sexual libido? Because Black men are allowed to like having a lot of sex!

Sometimes they’re not even horrible characters, the crowd just doesn’t like them 😅 and it would be a lot easier if we just SAID that, instead of trying to apply some sort of ‘moral failing’ to them. Especially because that dislike, circling back around, often is held from a place of bias. Anyway, I’m asking you to practice empathy, but more importantly, I’m asking you to practice emotional intelligence towards Black people. Be able to identify your own emotions and recognize when you’re being less gracious towards us. This is a skillset that will benefit you in your life as a whole.

Move to Innocence/Right to Comfort

This section is going to upset a lot of you, and I’m asking you to sit with that discomfort. As a segue from the last section, consider this: how often do you find yourself going “But maybe/but what if they-” when someone mentions something is racist? Or “I’ve never seen this before!”

Why?

Why is your first reaction to counter, or deny, what is happening? Or to stand in awe as if this is so new? Why is it not empathy and an attempt to understand the situation from their perspective? Do you understand how that shows a lack of concern for the Black person, prioritizing your own feelings and that of the person who harmed them?

Move to Innocence: "The term white innocence in the critical race, critical whiteness, and Social Justice literature usually reflects the idea that white people, in that they experience the privilege of dominant racial status in a white-dominant society, are generally naive about the realities of race and racism, particularly in systemic and structural senses. In particular, they are afforded the luxury (deemed a privilege) of not having to engage with race or racism unless they choose to do so intentionally (see also, antiracism). As critical race educator Robin DiAngelo points out (above), white innocence reflects the idea that “racism is not a white problem.”"

I am of the belief that this sort of response is a way to deflect harm from the self. It is not because you care about that person, but because if THEY are racist, it might mean that YOU are racist- if you do or have potentially done this behavior before. And rather than allow that to sit, and then respond with “I will work on changing my behavior”, it is a self-defense mechanism to fight against it, because you are Good and would not do that, and would want someone to defend you if this happened.

The problem here, is that we’re finally showing empathy… for the wrong party! You are pulling out the very skills asked of you to listen to Black voices, to defend those that harm us! This isn’t me saying that Black people can’t be wrong. But if you find yourself fighting against our words far more often than you do standing with us… well, the pattern of actions is not avoidable.

Or sometimes, you get the more well-intentioned but sometimes still damaging “yeah this happened to me as a [some other marginalized identity]”.

Right to Comfort: Essentially the idea that any conversation, particularly about racism, should be done in a way that never makes anyone uncomfortable. Which is not possible, because discussing race is always going to be uncomfortable for someone who doesn’t to discuss it. That white people are entitled to comfort at all times, that if something interferes with that comfort, it must be an attack on their rights. It is a core tenet of why Black emotions and perspective upset everyone.

The response itself is not always a bad thing, and yes, it is done as a way to empathize. But again, I often feel like this is an unconscious tactic to maintain one’s own comfort and place in the conversation that they were not involved in. In order to not feel uncomfortable, to sit with the idea that someone like me harmed you, that I need to make sure that I do not do these things to you and others… it centers that ‘oh, I’ve gone through this similar thing, so I am safe and understand completely’ when that is just… not true. It is not some automatic guarantee of your allyship.

It is so hard to find space to express yourself and your disappointments when it comes to Blackness. Sometimes what we need is the space to be heard, to vent, to be the center of care for once. It’s not a reflection of YOU, or that YOUR experiences don’t matter; it’s just what THEY need. Treat us the way WE want to be treated.

BTW, I know what I’ve cited here is from the perspective of white supremacy, but keep in mind that one doesn’t have to be white to participate in white supremacy. We ALL gotta work on these things! Purposely stopping yourself from making their experience about you and how you feel about it is an action you can take, to practice being a better ally. Sometimes, I would like to be the one that receives care without having to give it back!

Conclusion

Everything you feel, I FEEL! In addition to that, I have to deal with everything else affecting why I am and am not ‘allowed’ to feel! Why would that be hard to understand? Why would that be hard to sympathize with? You might not understand it from a “Black” perspective, but you can understand feelings. You can understand why things would cause joy, cause pain. Do you actually want to, is the question. Do you actually want to understand Black emotions and the Black perspective, at the risk of it conflicting with your own?

If nothing else, this one lesson is the one that guarantees bettering your relationship with Black peers. It is the easiest and most palpable action you can take to make us feel safe around you... To actually CARE and allow us to feel. Because it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Mandatory reading before I officially return.

[rareblackside]

My point in my last post is proved. Racist jokes that might not be serious to you but you will invite harmful racists who (might not even be fans of TADC) will go out and try to "rage bait" and upset black and anti-racist fans, making everyone as uncomfortable as possible.

The internet is forever and we must watch what we say

[rareblackside]

It is very common for non-Black people to bond over racism or racist jokes about Black people, so I'm not surprised really. I don't think they're racist (as in being someone who straight up doesn't like Black people,) I think they did something racist. But the biggest problem with these jokes are the way they invite real and genuine racists to spout their ideas. That joke might not have been serious to you. You might not actually be a racist but now you have created a play ground for people with actual racist ideals. Now you have a comment section of racists using your joke as a way to attack Black fans of yours. As we can see with some fans reactions to people saying it's not ok to joke like this.

But I've come to find that this is the most common form of racism. Either they have a bias or idea they don't know is racist or they lack empathy for Black people who have to hear their "joke." Or what type of culture their joke can incite.

And the fact that it's 'I'm not touching you/plausible deniability' racism, just adds an entire layer to this. You can explain it away and call anyone who has an issue with it a sensitive snowflake who can't take a joke or tell them they're over thinking it.

"They're not laughing at someone being able to get close saying/writing the n-word without actually doing it, they're laughing at the word negative!"

And I'm not surprised by the fandoms response either. Most of the fandom and the general indie space is made up of white people. It's easy for them to go, "it's not that deep" or that it doesn't matter because it was a long time ago but for a lot of Black people, it does and it's exhausting. It's exhausting to like something or someone only to learn they thought the shit that hurts you is funny. And Black people shouldn't be required to forgive and forget racism even if it was in the past.

In the end, we all do and say stupid silly shit. It's easy for us to be disillusioned by our privilege. Especially if those things don't effect us or people in our lives. When you aren't actively trying to unlearn bigotry and expose yourself to others life experiences you'll do and say stupid silly shit. Like corny ass "nega" jokes.

Personally, I think I can push it under the rug and the apologies are decent enough for me. I now know the type of people are in the fandom though. Luckily I'm mostly a fandom lurker so I won't have to put up with any of it. This'll sour my experiences with TADC but wtvr.

Here's a good video to watch

[ahmnorhein-zkn]

Repost, now do your honors.

[jkl-fff]

Trans people just existing is no more sexual than when cis people just exist.

[rareblackside]

Tadc ep 8

The next episode will definitely bring up the "recycling bin," it's far to big of a plot hole to be ignored. And even if Kinger bypassed the trash, Caine could still technically be recovered.

When you delete things, you're just telling the computer that the thing you deleted can be written over with something else, but the file/code isn't gone until it's been overwritten. (Can Kinger even create the necessary software to do it without overwriting Caine in the process, is the real question)

Maybe in the next episode the gang will have to decide weather or not they want to restore Caine. Or, something (Able, maybe) tries to write over Caine's code with itself.

[rareblackside]

TADC EP 8

Are we sure the gang is actually getting out of there? Are their bodies even still alive? Or are they copies? Caine mentioned them having "mind files" as though their brains were transported to the digital circus, so this kinda leaves the question about their bodies. I have multiple theories on this:

The bodies are killed upon upload into the digital circus. This means there is no going back or waking up.

The bodies aren't killed but might be dying. This means if a character was not near anyone to take them to the hospital, they might be dead. Ragetha was near people but Pomni was in an abandoned place.

They are simply copies of the original mind. In the outside world, they are still alive and maybe woke up after the scan was complete but the copy only remembers putting the headset on.

3 might be a fair ending. In the code we see they do mind scans. Not really uploads but scans. Scnas are used to make copies. Not only that but Gummigoo haunts the narrative and the whole deal with his situation is that he had to cope with "not being real" but despite being an NPC he still matters. Fast forward to ep 7 when Zooble says "it always was real, everything we felt, everything we've done, everything we are." It could very well point to a philosophical question that's asked by a lot of media about going to a digital world. Does it still matter even if you're "not real" or if you're just a copy?

[rareblackside]

TADC EP 8

Ok so I think the opening sequence was depicting the birth of Caine. He starts off as an AI being trained on photos of circuses and parks but ends up with pictures of the C&A office too. He sees that another AI (the blue one) was created and so he takes the code of that AI and absorbs it into his own. This is what he ment when he said "I fixed that" after bubble says he's genuinely bad at his job. Bubble also says "you really were the lesser of the two," so we know there was another AI. To me, Caine knows the feelings of the humans, he just can't care. All he cares about is doing what he was programmed to do and if that means torturing the humans until they comply, then so be it. He'll always prioritize his function and what makes him "feel" good over what's best for the humans. If he could really consider and understand their feelings, he'd see that their need to get out is bigger than just hating him and being "ungrateful." He'd be able to sympathize/empathize and understand that they have people and lives on the outside who that they want to go back to. But he's an AI so he can't actually feel or process those things, just emulate them.

[someonesteaparty]

hi there im black and im not fond of black history month! also not a fan of pride month

my thing is you all wanted to be treated equally. equally means the exact same as in this case white people. To me all things like black history month and pride month do is put blac people and gay people above everyone else. you said you wanted to be treated the same as them live up to that

a similar thing goes for black racism or i guess how society treats it

like why isn't saying cracker treated as harshly as saying the n word?? I'm aware the n word was used against black people as a slur but just because white people made a slur against us doesn't mean we should make a slur against them! you said you wanted equality you have to act like it no expectations! just because your black doesn't mean you cant be racist!!

[rareblackcat]

The reason for black history month is to celebrate the years of work that black people have put into the United States as enslaved people and after. And it is also used to celebrate our freedom from said slavery. There has been many black people who've been essential to the progress of the United States who have gone relatively unnoticed all throughout US history. Black History Month is ment to honor and bring light to that. It is not to be "above" white people, but to bring to light what their ancestors would have rather be hidden.

Cracker is not a slur. Is it a mean word? Sure. But it is not a slur.

Ethnic slurs are used to demean, dehumanize, and generalize an entire race/ ethnic group as a means to continue the oppression of said group. See, "if you act like a n-word, I'll treat you like a n-word" as an example of this. Cracker, though mean, isn't going to cause a white person to be followed in a store, or over policed.

[rareblackside]

My previous post

I really want white people to understand that when situations like this happen, it has the ability to harm random or even all black people. In the eyes of a lot of people we are a monolith so when a situation happens revolving one of us it can reverberate back on all of us.

When a black person commits a crime, random black people are punished for it.

When black people are celebrated for something, racist white people will punish random black people for it. (<- this is not me referring to Davidson, I am making a general statement about situations that happen)

And even in situations that have nothing to do with black people, we're attacked for it. Like when CK, a white man, was shot by another white man black colleges received gun threats.

I have heard for years white people joke, "pretending to have touretts so evey time a black person walks by I can yell the n-word" (something both ableist and racist.) So when some of the most famous black people are publicly called the n-word, even though it was done Involuntarily and wasn't his fault, it still causes harm and should be apologized for (<-Ik he apologized to MBJ and the sinners team, I'm arguing against the idea he shouldn't have to apologize.) If not, it invites people to be racist and it can still normalize the act of calling black people the n-word. We've already had a massive uptick of White people calling Black people the n-word and then being defended and paid for it.

I don't think people with tourettes should apologize for every tic they have but also nothing exists in a vacuum and every situation has nuance. The bbc should have cut it out, yes, but the fact is they didn't so it is, sadly, on Davidson to handle it. It would be different if he yelled "fire" and in that case he shouldn't apologize, but he didn't shout "fire". He shouted out a word that is deeply traumatizing and hurtful during our communities most prideful moment and that should be apologized for.

[rareblackside]

About the bafta touretts situation

I am a black person who suffers daily from intense and uncontrollable intrusive thoughts and these thoughts do not align with what I believe in so I empathize with Davidson. And it's really upsetting to see my own community continue to be ignorant instead of trying to understand what touretts and coprolalia is and ignore the nuance of the situation. I am not saying we shouldn't be upset because we can't control the way we feel and the impact it had still exists, but I also don't think we should ignore the fact that he literally cannot control it. His condition makes him say the worst possible thing at the worst possible moment. I have seen so much ableism from other black people these past few hours. How his, "intrusive thoughts brought what he really feels to light" or how, "people who Involuntary blurt out slurs should be muzzled or stay inside" and it makes me sick, honestly. We can't control the thoughts we have and there are words we know but don't say.

But I'm also upest with non-black people using this as an excuse to be racist and tell us to just "get over it already." Sorry that we don't want to hear the n-word blurted out as we see a film about us being celebrated??? We should be allowed to have feelings and emotions about this situation and be upset for every black person on that stage. Getting called the n-word by a non-black person isn't just a slight annoyance, it's a reminder of the hundreds of years of oppression that we've had to go through. It's a reminder that we are seen as unintelligent, dirty, violent, and not as deserving of respect as white people. It fucking hurts. Even though he didn't mean it, it still hurts and it still ruined the experience for a lot of Black people. And I also think it's fair for Black people to want an apology. We can and should acknowledge that it was Involuntary and not vilify him for it while also acknowledging the harm that hearing it has caused.

And lastly, fuck bafta. In my eyes, they are the ones at fault. They should've blurred that out. They'll take out someone saying "free Palestine" but not the slur that was very fucking audible?? And from the interview with Davidson they told him that it would be taken out.

And they didn't. This has put the ignorance of BBC on full display and has shown their blatant disregard for the safety of black people and people with touretts. By not removing it, they've made a situation that could've been handled internally a way bigger issue. And there's no way everyone on the editing team didn't hear that. I heard it, the crowd heard it, the Black people on stage heard it. So I don't believe it was just missed. I also hear that Warner Brothers asked them to take it out.

Something about this whole situation feels so malicious on bafta's end. Like they wanted to generate views via ragebaiting and abused this situation to do so.

I really hope that more people learn about different conditions and this minority infighting blows over and we can focus on who's really at fault, bafta.

Sources

John Davidson Explains Tourettes Tics in Interview After BAFTA N-Word https://share.google/HzfQPzf3yk9lIyBoq

https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/warner-bros-bafta-racial-slur-requested-removed-broadcast-1236671122/

[rareblackside]

So to protect teenagers, Discord is going to force adult users into teen spaces if they don't give them their information?

Yeah this isn't about protecting teenagers

never was, never will be

[spiralpaw]

it will always be a little funny to me that us black ppl are supposedly the lowest of the low evil backwards ppl with "no culture" but everyone wants to be black. everyone wants to steal aave. everyone wants a piece of black music for themselves. everyone wants a black ass and black lips and black hair. everyone wants the swag of black queers.