First of all, Tomi, I want to clarify that, although we absolutely have differing viewpoints, I commend you for making this much fame for yourself at a young age and being bold with your thoughts. That is something a lot of people don’t have in them. One of your videos first graced my Facebook timeline when a friend shared it. It was a friend who I often have debates with, and—unsurprisingly—falls a lot closer to your side of the political spectrum than mine, and for that reason I decided to watch it.
Do you ever think to yourself, in between shouting on your show, for someone who hates whiney liberal snowflakes, you sound a lot like a whiney snowflake? Except in your case, your whining is also yelling. It makes you appear more hostile than your words alone, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence I could only attempt to understand your (easily-argued) points once you were actually talking like a normal person on Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show”. This is where my questions begin.
Before the show even started, I want to address the clip Noah showed to introduce his viewers to your show. In the clip you say how
“The protestors are still out in force, except they’re not protestors, they’re crybabies with nothing better to do than meander around the streets with their participation trophies and false sense of purpose…”
It is amazing how both sides of the political spectrum can attribute such specific characteristics to a group of people they know closer to nothing about. I’d like to take this time to point out how you exercise your First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech while simultaneously criticizing others (most likely because they do not agree with your views) for exercising their rights to protest and assembly.
You tell Trevor Noah that you appear so angry because
“some of these people need just need to be called on their sh*t,”
and this time, Tomi, it’s your turn.
Let’s start with your most recent criticism of Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep made a speech at the Golden Globes referring to President Elect Donald Trump without even using his name. People were able to identify him through his actions. His actions that include mocking a disabled reporter on live television. Donald can sugarcoat or cover that up however he likes, but please do not lie to yourself or your viewers trying to say that was anything else than a baby in a grown man’s body reacting to criticism the only way he knows how. THIS is the man that you got behind and campaigned for. Please know, I know that, and so do millions of other Americans. This is the person you defended; but back to your criticism of Meryl Streep. Your tweet reads:
“These Hollywood elites wouldn’t know average, every day hard-working Americans if we bit them in the ass. #GoldenGlobes.”
Did you forget who you campaigned for? If you genuinely think Donald Trump is any different than “Hollywood elites” you are truly dumber than I thought. He’s a billionaire businessman who is used to trying to make ratings go up, he’s no different than the Hollywood elites (and how dare you criticize Meryl Streep—but that is for a different article). The saddest thing about your show and your identity, Tomi, is that I think you truly believe Donald Trump is in this for the American people. I really think you genuinely believe that. It’s sad because he is so clearly not—he is not an average, every day hard-working American, he came from money and undoubtedly only ever excelled because of the setbacks the middle class face and the discrepancies blue collar workers face.
Have you ever read about the amount of lawsuits he’s facing regarding his employees and the money he owes? Do you ever genuinely wonder why he won’t release his tax returns? If he really raped that girl? If he really treated Miss Universe contestants that way? Does it ever eat at you that the very man you helped get into the most powerful position in the country could very well be an underdeveloped pervert who’s just very good (or not very good, depending on how you look at it) at hiding it?
In your appearance on The Daily Show, which was not even a month after the election, you state how it’s time for people to clear the streets, accept reality, and move on. The thing that you miss consistently, both with statements like the one above and when you compared Black Lives Matter to the KKK (who in their right mind? Come on), is that accepting reality for some people is accepting the fact that they will face an increase of marginalized oppression. I know that sounds like a pure Social Justice Warrior talking (because I am, and it is) but it’s also true—it’s easy for you, Tomi, to say it’s time to move on, it’s another thing for People of Color whose lives will legitimately change because of this election, because of the narrative people like you and people like Donald Trump push. Because you normalize hatred and give racism a place to develop. I don’t think Donald Trump is a racist, but he and his campaign saw that a kind of angry, “let’s take back our home” rhetoric would flourish in the country today. Seeing that for what it is and choosing to normalize it and campaign off of it is worse, in my opinion, than actually being racist because now you control the racism, normalize it, and make it further sink its teeth into every aspect of human life today. That’s the platform you stand with, and I hope some day you realize it.
When you assign blame to movements like Black Lives Matter because of the extremists that exist in EVERY social/religious group, I hope you take some observation to the fact that there are people living in this country who legitimately fear for their lives when getting pulled over for a traffic stop. THAT is sad, and THAT is wrong. While the extremists who associate THEMSELVES with BLM are sad and wrong, you should make an observation that these people actually felt marginally oppressed enough to turn it into anger. That is something you will never experience or understand. Before you criticize BLM, take into account that there even needed to be a group called Black Lives Matter in the first place. When BLM starts hanging people in the town green because they’re white, let me know. The groups are NOT the same thing.
Let’s talk about your criticism of Colin Kaepernick. Here you are, again, whining. Had to bring that up again because of the hypocrisy. While I don’t necessarily believe what he did was right simply because the Flag and the Anthem is a different symbol for him than it is for you, because the same could be argued about whether or not it’s okay to paint swastikas everywhere, I don’t know how you cannot even take into account that Kaepernick actually watched injustice manifest enough to feel compelled to make a statement at his job, that taking a knee for the National Anthem was one of the only ways he could get through to people that he thinks there is something wrong going on.
“So here’s a black man in America who says I don’t know how to get a message across, if I go out and march in the streets people say I’m a thug, if I go out and I protest people say that it’s a riot, if I go out and bend down on one knee then it’s… What is the right way?” - Trevor Noah
Colin Kaepernick does not think he’s “taking it out” on out National Flag or our National Anthem. When there is literally no proper way to express the amount of anguish you have with the truly sad events affecting people who you identify with, making a statement as someone with a platform and someone with a following is one of the only ways one can demonstrate the frustration. It’s incredibly sad that the desperation and injustice has even gotten to the point where people feel the need to risk their career. That is seemingly never taken into account in your argument and that is why watching your videos is so frustrating. Trevor Noah hits the nail on the head when he tells you that maybe they choose this outlet because maybe these people are ones who have lived and read through history and realized that a lot of those people of every color who died for their country, some of them didn’t have the rights that their fellow servicemen had when they came back to the country after fighting for it. Maybe, he says,
“you’re one of those people who realizes that the penal system in America was designed to oppress black people, it was designed to enslave people, it is a relic of slavery.”
Of course you can talk about black issues even if you’re white (for those of you who haven’t seen the video, one of the assertions Lahren makes and argues against on the show is that she doesn’t agree with what Keapernick did, but because she’s white she should shut up about it). But because you and I are white, there are certain feelings we will simply never be able to understand. Feeling so oppressed by a society you are supposedly apart of but often made less than because of your skin color is one of those feelings. So who are you to criticize what Kapernick did when you’ll legitimately never be in his shoes? That is really what this all falls back on.
I hope some day you are capable of understanding the pure ignorance you push on your show. If somehow this open letter reaches you, I hope you know that you could’ve been helping create more unity in the United States had you even acknowledged that, yes, there are major problems with marginalized oppression and the way People of Color are treated. I hope you can understand that words like “trigger” or “triggering” were orginially for victims of PTSD, victims of sexual assault, rape victims, etc. and there are real people hurting behind the ideas you’re shouting about. The criticisms you make are actual struggles people face. I hope that connects for you some day. I can assure you us whiney, liberal snowflakes will not be melting anytime soon. We're here to stay.
Links:
Tomi Lahren on the Daily Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2xv4fba65U
Tomi Lahren’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TomiLahren
Tomi Lahren’s Meryl Streep Tweet
https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/818300209696481281
Tomi Lahren’s Facebook Page
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