#chickenwithitsheadcutoff

[chineseladybug]

Ever feel like you are ambling life like a #chickenwithitsheadcutoff Yeah it’s the #januaryfeels #mommyhood https://www.instagram.com/p/CnHjHlhu0rL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bossladykei]

Lord why this so funny to me. The chicken 🐓 part 😂😂 just why ... I will always crack up at #chickenwithitsheadcutoff https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQEwBSj_II/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sz72myca7afc

[theapewhoguardsthebalance]

"But I'm an ally, I'm a good white person, why are you attacking me?"

You know, the chief complaint of white people and allies when racial violence is being discussed is that we don't know how to act, we don't know what to say, everything we do is wrong, and that isn't fair to us. (disregarding the reverse-racism, colorblind, black-on-black violence etc. arguments that rear their ugly heads far too often).

Not even touching the idea of what "fair" is, the general response is chicken-with-its-head-cut-off: I don't know what to do? I don't have a script? What should I do?

And then, soon afterwards, directed to the closest POC: Tell me what to do, then?

And I think that's ridiculous. 

Should POC voices be heard, and heard above whites'? Absolutely. In the same way I cannot remember the last time I went to my doctor to argue that cancer is best treated by singing in the rain, I find it idiotic to assume that I can ever know what it is to live day to day as black person in America-- having grown up neither black nor in America. The same way I would be absolutely incensed if a cis heterosexual dude tried to tell me what misogyny feels like.

But it is not the job of any and every POC person we meet to explain life to us. We cannot stay silent and confused just because we haven't been handed a formula we could blindly follow, and protect ourselves under "following orders" from someone more qualified if we fuck up. I mean, that's why shit like this happens in the first place. 

We have to take accountability. And we have to take criticism. We have to act according to our individual moral compass, re-evaluate our positions constantly, and just accept blame if we fuck up. Accept that our mistakes are on us, and listen when they are pointed out to us instead of immediately "turtling" -- pulling into our shell, our comfort zone, and hiding until our mistakes are forgotten. Not everyone is born a turtle, after all. Not everyone gets to carry a safe shell with them.

And that, my friend?

That's privilege.