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Black Folks are not your shields [1]

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Date: 2025-09-13

There’s a phenomenon I’ve been paying attention to for some time now online in social media circles, podcasters and influencers (I don’t think I’ve seen this on DK) and I’ve usually let it slide, but since Black folks were targeted following this week’s event, I’m not so incline to anymore.

This is something I’ve noticed mostly white women do (yes yes not all), when discussing something or other, in the instance that sparked this text, it is shaming white young men for their reactions to you know who’s murder, so what they do is before launching into their topics they will “claim Black folks” example : Black folks are being blamed and attack for the murder and white young men…. No don’t use us as some kind of shield or pretext for whatever outrage you’re going to go on to.

I’m going to go further and tell you something that I’ve never seen anyone tell you before (because we don’t want to lose white women voters, well that ship has sailed), you are in great part responsible for the backlash that Black people and specifically Black women are facing today, because of this attitude. “Listen to Black women!” “I’ve come to collect you” “Don’t jump on a Black person’s thread’ to say x y or z and the list goes on and on.

You do not know the difference between backing up a Black person, standing up for them, defending them and using them. Some of you are all over the place, but you are not “talking” to your own, you are attacking them under the pretext of defending Black folks.

Now this attitude has gone from that to using Black folks as preemptive shields against attacks or backlash from your followers and audiences, because you know that they won’t want to be labeled racists, so will hesitate to check you if you put Black folks first. Stop that shit.

Y’all very vocal, loud, aggressive in “defending” Black folks online, telling folks to shut up and know their places on our behalf… problem is we never asked you to do that. Black folks are quite capable of defending (real defense) and standing up for themselves and their own.

We do not need you to alienate white folks on our behalf, we need you to educate them and put them straight on systemic racism for the most part so that, that system can be taken down. That’s the kind of help we need. Not the kind that aggravates and escalates racism towards us. Because, it is one thing for a Black person to rebuke someone on their timeline and quite another for someone to jump in and do so for the wrong reasons.

Are there times when piling on are okay? Sure if it’s overt and ugly racism have at it, but don’t jump into our comments (at least mine) to berate someone who disagrees with me or even is wrong. Offer information yes, correct them yes, offer a link yes, explain something to them yes, but the “don’t come on a Black person’s thread to say this or that’ has got to stop! Leastwise on my account, as I’ve said before I am not here to change or to make leftists think, you’re already on my side, I’m here in the hopes of reaching one still reachable mind.

I once had a white woman on X tell me that how dare I rebuke her for some BS when she had disowned her family over them being racist… yeah, I’ve yet to see one Black person tell white folks to disown their families on our behalf, believe me that does not help us one bit, it actually brews resentment towards us as do most of the things I listed. Another statement I received from a friend “now they can stop telling us to listen to Black women because we lost”.

As I’ve explained before good actions shouldn’t be about you, but about the person you’re helping. Dm’ing someone as to why their actions/racism was wrong is way more effective then jumping on them in public to add your own visible outraged condemnation so everyone can know “I’m not racist, see how I defend Black folks” no… that ain’t the way. I’ve had people jump on my threads to pile on, on some white person or other just for disagreeing with me and I’ve contacted you in private to tell you to stop, didn’t come down on you in public now did I?

We keep saying how men need to be more sensitive and not afraid to show their feelings, so believe me I felt some kinda way when I saw this grown ass woman (who let’s be clear I like and follow) using her platform to shame a young white leftist man for being emotional over the death of an influencer like him. It enraged me.

#TheAmericanHaitianPoet #Woke #SocialPoetry

Paypal.me/murielvieux (small donations go a long way)

Muriel Vieux – September 13th, 2025 – ©All rights reserved

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