The Problem with Saying Nothing

Ellen DeGeneres:

I have said this on my social media, but I want to say it again to my viewers.  I stand with the protesters who are exercising their rights, and I want to be an ally fighting for change.

As a white person. I don't always know what to say.  I think right now white people have to just sit in our discomfort, and we have to admit that there's a lot we don't know about black people's lives and about a black person's experience.

And there is horrible injustice towards black people that has been ignored for far too long. I've tried to use my platform to raise awareness on different issues over the years.  I like to think that I'm doing my best.  But I think it's time that we have to look at ourselves and we have to say we have not done enough.  I want to learn how to be a better person, how to do better.  I was the dancing lady for a little while, and now I want to help educate my audience.  I want to educate myself.

I want to say hi to my friend tWitch.  tWitch, I think a lot of people are being silent right now because everyone is scared they're going to say the wrong thing.

tWitch:

Yes, I mean, there's a part of me that gets it because we have a society now that's like: on social media if you say the wrong thing, you get ripped apart.  Here's the reason that's problematic, and it can go on many different things, right?

Like, as a man (myself), there's going to be times that I'm going to have to speak up for misogyny and all kinds of stuff like that, but I can't be silent because I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing.  Out of love for the person that you're speaking up for, you have to be willing to make that mistake and then go back and correct it.  So then you know—because if you don't make the mistake, just by doing nothing, then that still is a stance.  A non-stance is a stance at this point in time.  You know what I mean?

So when it comes to race relations and how we're yelling Black Lives Matter and speaking up for the injustices that we as black people have faced in this country for centuries now, at this point, we just need allies.  We don't need you to be perfect because—excuse my French—the [...] we're fighting against is not perfect.  So we don't need a well-formulated set.  We need people that care.  We need people that are going to be willing to face the raw, uncut "I make mistakes, but I'll bounce right back to be with y'all again."  We need that.

So, I understand there's a little bit of resistance, a little bit of hesitant forward motion for that.  But at the end of the day, you you know, I love you.  You have many many many people of color, black people that love you that will... I'm not talking about the social media folks. I'm talking about people that could call you and from a place of love like "Yo, I saw what you're trying to say, but next time word it this way because this." And you know it's coming from a place of love rather than like "We're going to tear a celebrity down!"  You know what I'm saying? We don't have to worry about that right now.

What we have to do is we have to connect on a human level and make sure that we're showing each other that we care.  On the flip side of that, we also have to find a place of patience and not rip each other apart for trying.  Sometimes things are going to be misspoken because we all don't have the same experiences.  So it's a lot of things that need to work at the same time, but none of us as a people on either side can stop trying.

Source: Ellen DeGeneres, tWith

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