Black people, get to the front! White folks are spilling the tea about how they feel about us, and their revelations are something to marvel at… Not because they’re revealing anything Black Americans don’t already know but because many are finally taking accountability.
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The term “white fragility” was popularized after sociologist and author Robin DiAngelo released her 2018 book detailing discomfort white folks may face whenever racism is brought up. But on social media, which can bring out the truth telling in the most unlikely bunch, white folks are warning Black folks not to get it twisted, they really don’t like us.
@jsnewchurch on TikTok said in a Tiktok video that she was “taught to fear” Black people from an early age. “I was taught that [Black people] were dangerous– that you hated white people,” she said on TikTok. The MIT Press Reader found children began showing racial bias as early as seven years old.
Because of this, it’s no wonder that white folks like this user already made up their minds about race. “Part of my white privilege is that I can put down the ‘anti-racist’ torch and not think about this because it’s not negatively affecting me,” she continued. And she’s not alone.
“I think every single white person experiences white fragility. Those who experience a little experience it as guilt. And those who experience a lot display it as anger,” another user, @julie.9626, said. She chucked up most of the “hate” towards Black people as a fear response or “more accurately, we are intimidated by them,” she continued.
The user explained many white Americans feel “entitled” because of their skin. So encountering a Black person simply living their life can challenge this white fragility, often prompting anger from white Americans with deadly consequences.
According to experts and even those white truth tellers online, this can manifest into something like the 2022 Buffalo mass shooting, which happened in a Black neighborhood at the hands of a young white man. Or, it can lead to Black men being disproportionately convicted of crimes they did not commit. Hate crimes against Black people are often fueled by unprovoked racism. And according to FBI data, racist crimes against Black people are still the highest compared to any other ethnic group.
A 2019 PEW Research study found 71 percent of Black adults said race relations are bad in America compared to white adults’ 56 percent. Another study found four out of five Black adults noticed racist stereotypes portrayed in mass media, which undoubtably impacts how people see the world.
But although racism continues to plague Black folks, some white Americans like @julie.9626 pointed out the generational narrative she and others have been fed about their race. “We don’t feel the need to ‘prove ourselves’ because we’ve been sold the story that being white simply just makes us better,”she continued.
The TikToker also gave Black Americans props for being the ultimate organizers in times of crisis. Take the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests or more notably, the hundreds of demonstrations from the Civil Rights Movement. The Black community historically has been just that: a community. But white Americans, on the other hand, cannot fully relate.
“We are unmotivated to educate ourselves, to develop community, to work for our rights,” @julie.9626 added of white Americans. But while internalized racism, history and even the media play a key role in conditioning racist beliefs, @beads711 said it all comes down to one thing.
Racism is often fueled by negative stereotypes, like Black men are animals or Black women are ghetto. These fake theories impact exactly how white Americans and others in society perceives us, whether they hold weight or not.
@beads711 said the best thing everyone can do is not feed into the drama! “The theory that all white people are that way is also a stereotype,” he said. “So we gotta be careful.”
Straight From 
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