Contemplating "Venting"

Can we do each other a favor and not minimize things by calling it "venting" when POCs (hell, let's just be honest - Black people, especially us Angry Black Women) express how it feels to be on the receiving end of racism?

You vent about a shitty day at work.

You vent about a car accident.

You vent about a friend's bad personal habits.

Expressing frustration, hurt, anger, and despair about your oppression is not venting.

Being frank about how it feels to live in a world where you don't count as a fully human being is not venting.

Telling people what you really think about some of the things they take for granted is not venting.

Pointing out the way some habits reinforce dynamics and attitudes that hurt a lot of fucking people is not venting.

As for a safe space for White people to be ignorant - that's the whole fucking world. Where is the safety for us? When do we get to just dip our toes in racism instead of having it knock us upside the head and remind us of our place in the world?

Must be nice to be White. Can you imagine? You can actually debate whether or not it's a good idea to walk up to somebody and put your hands in somebody's head and instead of people calling you out for being an uncouth jackass with no home training (and treating you as such), it's apparently that person's responsibility to educate you about the error of your ways.

Must be nice to be White. Must be nice to be given the benefit of the doubt every step of the way. Must be nice to have all those patient POCs ready to explain and educate at the drop of a hat - for free - no matter what it costs us personally. After all, what's most important is that we have a productive conversation, even though the only people really gaining anything from it are White people and often at our expense.

Must be mighty nice.

~RVCBard

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