To My White Friends on Facebook: Candace Owens is Not Your Checkmate Piece. I Promise.
Isn’t it annoying when someone turns a Facebook post into a 1000 word essay?
That would be me. I am someone.
So that is why To My White Friends on Facebook is here on Medium. These words are still first and foremost for my Facebook friends. I’m just welcoming you in on the conversation.
To My White Friends on Facebook (and those who are reading this because it was shared by someone who just needed the words to say how they feel),
I’ve been trying my absolute best to not talk about Candace Owens. I want her to be as much of a non factor in my every day conversations as possible. On any given day, I’d much rather pour out a 5 gallon bag of multi-colored kitty litter, count each pebble one by own and separate them in order of color, weight, and size — twice. Not even kidding. But here I am, for the first and last time, giving you my thoughts on her rhetoric.
Positively for the most part, I’ve seen many of you denounce her views, particularly when they are brought up in your comment section: how she has brought up George Floyd’s past as if that was a justifiable reason for him to be viciously murdered by officers who swore to protect and serve; how she swears that black people are killed every day and no one seems to matter unless their killer is white; how systematic racism is a figment of imagination and other eyebrow raising views that have made many of those that are on the right very happy to have her on their side. But here’s my stance that I’d like to present to those of you that are secretly agreeing with her or maybe not so secretly agreeing with her (If you have posted in favor of her views and we are still Facebook friends, it’s because I unfollowed instead of unfriended you a long time ago and never saw it. That oughta tell you something): I really don’t care to go into all of the reasons why Candace Owens is wrong; I want to get into the reasons why you feel you need her to be right.
Does agreeing with Candace Owens absolve you of being racist? Because if you agree with another black person about what they believe about black people then that means you can’t be racist, right? Do her views on black women and abortion, how black on black crime doesn’t get enough attention from black people, and the media’s disproportionate reporting of white people also being killed by cops give you the “checkmate” move you need when your other friends try to defend black people’s right to fight for equality? No it does not.
And you are a pawn if you believe so.
Because let’s just say the black community really “got it together” in your eyes: Not one more black person kills another black person; Not one more black woman has an abortion. I’ll even throw in a bonus: Not one more black person ever talked about racism again, since so many people believe that it still exists because black people are still talking about it. Let’s say that every single black person did the work that you seem to think that they need to do to wipe their slate clean. Do you honestly believe that there would be no more police brutality? Do you honestly believe that black people would not be discriminated against because of the color of their skin? Because regardless of what you feel the black community’s priorities should be, the right to justice and equality are not contingent on what you think black people should or should not be doing.
Racial discrimination is wrong and it needs to stop.
Police brutality is wrong and it needs to stop.
Police brutality fueled by racial discrimination is real, it is wrong and it needs to stop.
How arrogant and entitled do you have to be to feel that you have the right to withhold justice and equality from a group of people like a parent who tells their child that they can’t go outside until they clean up their room? And don’t even get me started on if you are a Christian. Your faith is completely hinged on the belief that ”While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). You have absolutely no right.
Candace Owens and her views do not absolve you. If anything they are hindering you. If you have any desire to be on the right side of justice, you may want to take a good hard look at where you stand with her views.
