5 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people
privacy.thenexus.today
Anti-Blackness is a long-term problem in the fediverse. Now's a good time to start changing that.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/15011909

Feedback welcome! Here’s the TL;DR list

  1. Listen more to more Black people
  2. Post less – and think before you post
  3. Call in, call out, and/or report anti-Blackness when you see it
  4. Support Black people and Black-led instances and projects

Other suggestions?

    • smallpatatas@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      4 months ago

      Is there a reason you seem to be upset by this piece? This is a forum for discussion about the Fediverse. Seems entirely appropriate to me.

      • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        16·
        4 months ago

        Not upset, just thought it needed to be said.

        It seems odd to expect people to realize this is largely addressing issues in mastodon when it is posted to Lemmy and the summary uses terms that are interchangable. Most people are not going to take the time to follow the link if they have a negative reaction to the summary.

        In short, the summary is very easy for people to take as some sort of attack on the places they personally spend time in on the fediverse as lacking. I don’t think most people look around on Lemmy and see evidence of what is being addressed as though it is an all encompassing problem, and so you get knee-jerk downvotes and that’s the extent of the engagement.

        • smallpatatas@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          4 months ago

          I agree that it can be difficult for people to hear that a place they enjoy has issues with anti-Blackness. It can feel like a personal attack, and most people consider themselves ‘not-racist’.

          I think the real thing to strive for is to be ‘anti-racist’, rather than ‘not-racist’. We all ultimately have prejudices - the point is are we able to simultaneously be honest with ourselves, forgive ourselves, and improve.

          In many ways, the overall reaction to this piece actually proves many of its points. The overall reaction seems to have been to deny that the problem exists and refuse to investigate further (or, as you point out, to recognize that the Fediverse being discussed extends beyond Lemmy).

          Additionally, some of the reactions here are themselves examples of anti-Blackness (e.g. accusations of so-called “reverse racism” and the like, as well as the ‘knee-jerk’ downvotes you describe). Which makes me less inclined to think of Lemmy as any kind of bastion of anti-racism!

    • The Nexus of Privacy@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
      4·
      4 months ago

      The community is called “Fediverse”, and this is about the fediverse, so yes it is the correct audience.

      And there’s plenty of anti-Blackness on Lemmy. In fact there’s even a bunch of anti-Blackness in this thread – as somebody on another instance said, it’s illustrates why other instances have defederated lemmy.world! So, if you’re looking for examples, have a look at this thread.

      • danekrae@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        3 months ago

        In fact there’s even a bunch of anti-Blackness in this thread

        Could you help me find the comments you are referring to? I can’t seem to find them, and I’m worried it might be because I’m subconsciously anti-Blackness

        • The Nexus of Privacy@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          If you can’t find them, then (like many people) that’s a sign you’re used to an environment where anti-Blackness is normalized. So, imagine a Black person reading this thread who’s been targeted by racism on the fediverse. What comments would they think are dismissive of Black people?