This is a post everyone probably needs to read.
It’s a post about race. Or rather, it’s a post about posts about race – specifically, the comments that accompany them.
We have a set of rules regarding commenting on Jezebel. We have posted them repeatedly, and will continue to do so. They are also available, at any time, via the “About” section at the bottom of our pages. They are fairly straightforward: No attacks, no yelling, no threadjacking. But, as many readers have pointed out, they have proven to be inadequate guidelines with regards to the complicated conversations surrounding certain issues, especially those concerning race, ethnicity, and cultural sensitivity.
There’s a lot I can say about this, but won’t, for reasons of clarity and space. I want to be straightforward, not academic. Furthermore, my time reading the comments and comment moderation policies on blogs that are explicitly focused on issues of race and ethnicity has proven that there is no easy or “right” way to deal with these discussions, especially on a mainstream site like Jezebel. And it can get frustrating, both for the readers, and the editors.
We all need to do better.
But how? Taking what I’ve observed on this blog and others – and direct suggestions from readers themselves – I’ve come up with some guidelines.
1. Remember that it’s not about you personally. Discussions of race often revolve around systems that have developed throughout history – not what one individual has chosen to do or experienced. A post on, say, black Barbies and the fact that certain populations have not seen/are not seeing their realities represented in popular culture is not the place to complain or point out that you were sad as a child because there were no red-headed Barbies. Wait for a post on red-headed Barbies.
2. Don’t get defensive. Accept the reality of others’ experiences and anger with grace and humility and don’t compare or weigh those experiences, struggles and disappointments to your own. To paraphrase commenter Sister Toldja: “Please just be here when it hurts. Try to accept the discomfort of acknowledging when you are part of a privileged majority with the understanding that some women of color are not pretending that your struggles don’t exist at all.”
3. Don’t shift discussions of race to your own concerns or perceptions of victimization or guilt. (See #1 above.) It’s a sure way to demonstrate your unseriousness, and possible grounds for disemvoweling or banning.
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