Sam Smith Strikes Back Against “Whitesplaining” Backlash For Sharing Racist Incident
Sam Smith recently clapped back after Internet outrage accused him of “whitesplaining” racism after he shared a story about being witness to a friend’s racist incident.
In a series of Tweets, Smith shared how the incident left him “speechless” and expressed an honest need to do more:
Pretty straightforward, right? Well, not so fast.
This being the internet in 2016, Twitter trolls decided to take Smith to task for “whitesplaining” racism.
If you’ve never heard the term before, Urban Dictionary defines “whitesplaining” as “The paternalistic lecture given by Whites toward a person of color defining what should and shouldn’t be considered racist, while obliviously exhibiting their own racism.”
Didn’t see any of this there? Yeah, us neither.
Smith’s shocked response to experiencing racism inspired this:
…and probably a dozen other articles that couldn’t wait to attack Sam Smith for actually saying something about racism, as inarticulate as it was. The Internet Outrage meter was reaching threat level orange, so Smith responded on Instagram:
Look, white people are far less likely to experience an act of overt racism firsthand, so we can understand how it would be genuinely shocking for them. But, honestly, if Blacks are not going to give any wiggle room for growth for a white person who is trying to be an ally, they may as well just all hang it up and quit trying.
Smith will probably think twice before he says anything about racism in the future if he does at all, and that’s a real bummer.
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6 Comments
ken
January 26, 08:40Same smith looks so much like Boy George
Max 2.0
January 26, 08:42People are unbelievable
Mandy
January 26, 10:06Some Blacks are sha too darn sensitive. Haba
Delle
January 26, 10:14Our insecurity is making us lash out on people even without cause to. Ok
Jon Snow
January 26, 11:49Don’t we see such “cynicism” even on KD when non-LGBT members speak in support of the community???
MagDiva
January 27, 19:55Shakes my head. Why are we permanently angry even when we shouldn’t be and there’s absolutely no reason to. This is what is keeping black folks down. #sad