When your newsroom is owned by a corporationāor worse yet,Ā a private equity firmāyou find that it is sometimes hard to do your job as you envision it. Corporations often answer to advertisers, and advertisers often donāt want hard-hitting journalism. They want content that wonāt hurt peopleās feelings or force them to face uncomfortable truths.Ā
Why I Love DAME Magazine
This is the problem when outlets simply report what the police are saying and use that as the narrative. The police donāt always get it right, and as stated earlier, sometimes they flat out lie. The narrative from law enforcement in Texas has shifted so many times, itās almost as if they are making it up as they go along.Ā
What Really Happened in Uvalde?
Iām not saying that journalism as a whole is completely fucked up, but it is trending in that direction. And this is scary because journalists are supposed to be the watchdogs of society. We have an obligation to be truthful and tell the people what is happening. That doesnāt always happen these days.
U.S. Journalism is a Hellscape Right Now
Not only is professionalism a double standard in how itās applied, but the actual standard itself is grounded in a set of beliefs that are meant to control and subjugate people of color, including Black people.
Professionalism Is a Racist Construct
I donāt want to have to worry about white people policing me, trying to āput me in my place,ā being suspicious of me simply because I am Black and taking every opportunity to foist their opinions or their āadviceā on me.
It Is Absolutely Exhausting Being Black in America
While Jim Crow legally ended in the 1960s, its legacy and the legacy of the white vigilantism and terror that preceded it still lives on in both our criminal justice system and our everyday society.
White Vigilantism Is American History
The problem is that whiteness is centered so much in our world, people like this donāt know how to respond when it isnāt. White people donāt have to worry about their ācultureā being left out of anything, because itās always present, but they still complain when they canāt see themselves in something. They will even go so far as to insert themselves where they donāt belong.
Why Canāt We Just Enjoy Black History Month?
People are hungry, poor, and tired. Classism, racism, and capitalism have joined forces to become a Voltron of oppression, and those elected to serve our interests will not fix it because they are too busy serving their own personal agendas.
Itās Time to Wake Up, America!