One of my guilty pleasures is reading the comments on Facebook posts by popular pages such as The Today Show. Usually the comments are light-hearted and always absurd, written by gen X (with the some random millennials putting in their two-sense, depending on what the Facebook page is). My favorite comments are when a fight breaks out between dozens of people over something ridiculous, such as whether or not they should keep posting stories about the Kardashians. But, occasionally, the comments are not light-hearted and are explicit examples of racism, easily accessible and can be seen by anyone. I feel like maybe I shouldn’t preach about the (too) large group of disgusting white people in America, because I am a white person and therefore, maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to say anything at all. I’m not affected by racism but I am mad that it is 2015 and it only seems to be growing.

There’s a story spreading through the internet about a teacher who dressed up as Kanye West with his wife going as Kim Kardashian. The husband wore black face and had a sign that said, “Kanye for President”. I first came across this story on a Today Show Facebook click bait link. The link led me to a video that at first told the history of black face and then had quotes from the guy, claiming he “has never seen color” (PS: don’t say this - you’re ignoring the issue). Also, how he is awaiting the school’s decision on whether or not he will be allowed to keep his job.

I was grossed out enough by the man’s costume but was horrified when I read the comments. Around 90% of the comments that I read through were white people and mostly all women. I myself did not see one comment saying that what the man did was wrong. Every comment consistently said that he was “just dressing up for Halloween” and that there was nothing wrong with what he did. They all agreed that the fact that he could have his job taken from him over this is a tragedy. The video had literally started with how offensive black face is and why it should never be done. But the commenters readily ignored this. There were claims of “people are too sensitive in 2015”, which is something that I’ve seen all over the internet. No, we’re not too sensitive, we’re becoming more aware of what is wrong and needs to be fixed - which is in regards to so many topics: racist Halloween costumes, sports teams names, sexuality, the transgender community, prison labor, and the list goes on and on. These things have always existed, they are just receiving a voice now. Those people who say America is “too sensitive” are the people who are keeping these offensive actions, such as wearing black face, prevalent. When someone says this, they are making these problems seem petty to those who are being affected by it. They are oppressing those who are already oppressed, by saying the fact that they are offended is uncalled for and frivolous. It makes me irritated that some of these people are young and should be the ones promoting awareness instead of bringing us into the past. If you are one of these people, and need some more clarity on what you are saying is wrong, spend some time reading testimonies of those affected by racism. An amazing example is an article called “Why I’m Absolutely an Angry Black Woman” by Dominique Matti, that you can find on Those People, here.

Take some time to educate yourself and realize that you telling people that they should not be offended by something is only making the problem worse.