allerasphinx:

there’s a reason why i side eye those “ppl should be able to enjoy problematic things without feeling bad” posts; i always get the feeling they’re custom-made for people suffering from white guilt who want to feel better about having privilege. 

honestly, the word problematic is so tepid and i see it used for issues that are devastating to poc. like, what’s the rubric we’re working with here? there’s a limit and decisions that actively hurt us aren’t just ~problematique~   

and i know posts like those aren’t meant to reassure poc that if we like something that isn’t the paragon of representation, we don’t have to agonise over it because unfortunately that’s hard to find in a society obsessed with whiteness. 

they’re not meant to make us feel better about the tendency to project ourselves onto white characters because they exist where we don’t and they get treated infinitely better than we do in narratives. 

they’re not meant to makes us feel better about constantly being in the process of shedding ourselves of indoctrination, of our self-hatred.

they’re not meant to comfort us and assure us that when we’re exhausted by the real world–by the barrage of racist macro/microaggressions in our working environments, friends groups, activist circles, in our entertainment–indulgence in lily white media (’sup downton abbey) doesn’t make us bad activists. 

i know that posts like those are meant to absolve white people of responsibility for participating in systemic racism. i know they’re meant to convince white people that it’s okay if they opt out of critical thinking. it’s okay if they enjoy their white privilege. it’s okay if they’re selfish. after all, they’re personally not hurting anyone because they don’t make the rules even though the rules cater to them.