[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e still live in a world where people are discriminated against based on their skin colour, race, culture, and religion. With the continuing of prejudice and discrimination happening in many countries across the world including and not specific to the United States, we have people who are proud to be racist and not afraid to display wholeheartedly that racism and hatred out in the public especially with the recent presidential election of Donald Trump. With this, we as a society are trying to mend and repair all the hatred and hurt that is happening by having more conversions, specifically black people have sit downs and open conversations with open racists and Trump supporters. While it is good that we are trying to see the other side and have a some what understanding and knowledge of how they think, we have to stop giving these people the limelight and focusing the attention on them and not the issue at hand.
A perfect example of this is Trevor Noah, the host of ‘The Daily Show’ having Tomi Lahren, a open racist who has her own talk show that has a prejudice and racism rhetoric on his show to discuss everything from Donald Trump and the election to Black Lives Matter. The interview created a star out of Tomi. The interview gave Tomi more limelight with her racist and white supremacist mindset. While Trevor’s intention was most likely to help America and society understand how the conservatives are feeling after the election, what he really did was gave racism more unwanted attention. Trevor is now contributing to normailzing white supremacy which is something that should not and can not happen.
Adding to the list, radio host Charlamagne asked this question on Twitter:
Would be dope if a young black or Hispanic “WOKE” woman used social media to create a Platform to be a voice like Tomi Lahren did.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) December 7, 2016
What he failed to realize was there have been numerous black women like Kat Blaque, Janet Mock and Francesca Ramsey creating these same platforms he speaks of. Tomi was given her platform, these women had to make their own. He is praising a white woman who didn’t have to do much to get her own show, while these women have worked very hard for years to even generate enough buzz to get their platform. Let’s not forget Charlemagne is very anti-black women. While Lil Mama was a guest on his show The Breakfast Club, he made it a priority to make her cry.
Additionally he made jokes about Viola Davis’s appearance when she took off her wig and go make-up free on How To Get Away With Murder. Instead of using his platform to uplift black women, he continuously puts them down in a society that already hates black women. Charlamagne spewing anti-blackness is harmful because he has a powerful platform. Thousands of people listen to his radio show, so him paining black women the way it does, creates such horrible narratives. All the things he says, white people will agree with and start saying well a black man said it so it’s true.
@BlackLove247 Lol. Yes because when Viola Davis had on no make up on How to Get Away with Murder I said it would be a great Halloween mask.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) April 10, 2016
@Awkward_Duck Now let’s talk about Viola she was playing a character and was looking terrible on purpose. I clowned her character.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) October 18, 2014
The election of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States has a set a new precedent in the country of is upfront and public racism and that is not good.
Racists and white supremacists who have sat in their houses quietly holding onto this hatred waiting for an opportunity to display it now have the chance.
The KKK have now held multiple victory ceremonies now he is President. There are more and more people who the same platform as Tomi are coming forward and it is scary.
This newfound public forum for white supremacy on the front lines needs to be stopped and halted. People of America do not need anymore fear embedded into them with these morals of prejudice, discrimination, and white nationalism moving around them. People need to feel that their voices and their beings regardless of race or religion matter, but with the rise of hate crimes happening in America and this white supremacy becoming more and more mainstream, it is up to us the public and the media to not give this people more power.
We as a society have to rebuild after this ‘whitelash’ as CNN commentator Van Jones called it, and providing these people a voice and platform is not the answer.
