Rihanna Is Right as Always
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The “I have black friends” defense has long been a method of excusing racism, but the phrase also serves a second purpose: it’s a convenient self-absolution for white people who genuinely want to believe that centuries of systemic oppression and racism have left them singularly untouched and without a racist bone in their bodies. Just offering basic courtesies to non-white people and calling it friendship is still very much the only gesture a great many people make toward equality, and most of those people truly seem to believe that not being outwardly unpleasant is a contribution worthy of praise.
In her acceptance speech for the President’s Award during the 51st Annual NAACP Image Awards, Rihanna rightly told the audience to call bullshit on friends and people close to them who build a cache of non-white, LGBTQ, or women friends without concerning themselves with any of the struggles those friends face.