Opinion: Discussing Black Issues in Inappropriate Places

Note: All of the screenshot comments in this post were written by black-presenting people.

I won't normally do two posts in one weekend, but this is the best time for both.

I'm not here to police anyone's responses. I am, however, here to give my opinion. And I was highly irritated by some of the Facebook comments from other black people on this recent video.

Quick synopsis if you don't want to watch: The woman pictured made an Airbnb reservation for two people (and I believe two dogs, but it's unclear,) and later asked the host, Tami, if it would be okay for her to add two people. Tami said this was fine, she would just have to pay more. However, when they were nearly there, after driving through crappy weather, Tami suddenly went back on her word, cancelling the reservation, and the two had a message exchange including Tami calling the woman, "insanely high" for thinking she would get such a good deal, "One word says it all. Asian," and "This is why we have Trump."

Now, to the comments.

Most of these people don't seem to mean any harm, but are guilty of what so many other people, white and sometimes POC, are: Not taking the time to think about the implications of their words and if this is really the right time and place.

Discrimination against blacks is not the issue right now.

This is an incidence of racism against an Asian woman.

Stop making it about us.

We have been craving the ability to comment on our own issues without people jumping in and taking attention away from us. How is it justified for us to turn around and do the same crap to others?

We have too many of our own struggles to be invading the space of others'.

It is important to give visibility to black issues, but not when it tramples over the visibility of the issues of others.

Wrong. Open discrimination against Asians is nothing new, and suggesting this shows how little you've been paying attention to issues other minorities face.

I don't know why she's crying, either. Was it being cancelled on last-minute and possibly played the whole time because she's Asian? Was it being stranded in the cold with no accommodations? Was it the stress of traveling with three friends and two dogs while being wary of potential flash floods? She should really elaborate.

"It's worst for blacks."

It's not a f*****g competition. I do like the supporting nature of the rest of the message, even if I don't necessarily agree with it (we shouldn't have to be the ones to adjust, but that's another rant.)

Blacks and Asians have to deal with some similar and some different forms of racism. However, not only is it wrong to compare and discount what Asians have faced in this country, it does not matter if one is "not as harsh" as the other, because again, it is not a competition, and your comments about Black America are taking away from a discussion about anti-Asian racism.

We really don't know this lady's story. She could deal with racist but less consequential happenings on a regular basis, or this could be her first time experiencing it. By her denouncement of the "Racism is over!" sentiment at the beginning of the Obama presidency, I would hazard a guess that this was not her wake-up call.

Next, a shout-out to the people who were calling others out.

On that last one, I agree with the sentiment, but not the message. I don't agree with the "Stop pitying yourself," because self-pity has nothing to do with this. People just chose to voice their feelings about black oppression in an inappropriate place. Also, the comment about the "not the only oppressed race" is missing the mark. The bigger issue seems to be people who think racism is a contest, black people win, and the winners have the right to take over discussions about the rest of POC.

This is what I would have liked to see more of:

See my previous comment about the "wake-up call" notion, though.

Lend words of sympathy. Lend words of support an encouragement. I love seeing people being outspoken about black issues, but do not try to take over conversations about racism toward other POCs with talk of how hard our struggle has been.

Respect others' spaces as you would like for our spaces to be respected.