byzantiums: sorry i know i said you were rid of me and like wow i did not want to wade into this...

byzantiums:

sorry i know i said you were rid of me and like wow i did not want to wade into this martin freeman-related vortex of batshit crazy, but i do think tumblr has these specific people that are made into scapegoats and whose names then become synonymous with certain kinds of insidious shit. like, just to provide an example, ashton kutcher made a video in brown face, essentially mocking indian people, and that was news that barely picked up any traction on this website. and yet a word can’t fall out of martin freeman’s mouth without there popping up a dozen posts about it, all with 300+ notes. when tumblr’s response to ‘dealing with racism’ is to amplify the actions and words of a few select people whom this website has decided are the ~bad guys~ and practically ignore or pay very little attention all the other racist fuckery going down in the world, well, i don’t think you can blame people for becoming disillusioned with it. (okay fine, tumblr is not going to pick up on every single racial offence committed but there’s still a disproportionate amount of negative attention paid to some individuals and relative silence afforded to others). it’s gotten to the point where i see some of these posts - particularly in the proverbial hands of some white bloggers - and think they’re an updated hipster variation of ‘i have a poc friend’. this time it’s ‘look guys, i know exactly who to be morally outraged about! i dislike racists so i’m are good, right?’ 

and don’t even get me started on all these ‘mmmm i wanna rip out martin freeman’s hair strand by strand! imma fry his balls and eat ‘em in a curry’ posts. how is that a helpful or constructive response to racism? if i - as a woc - said these things out loud, things besides my social standing would get hurt. i appreciate this is the internet, not real life, and people are going to vent in a way they’re not allowed to do in non-virtual company but i feel like when you start using violently charged rhetoric against someone is the moment you have to step off your high horse and stop spewing morally indignant outrage at the people who were simply pointing out that said someone’s words were a joke.