Plantation weddings are wrong. Why is it so hard for white Americans to admit that? – The Guardian
Last Thursday, BuzzFeed News reported that online platforms, including Pinterest and the Knot Worldwide, would restrict content that features or romanticizes weddings held on former slave plantations. These changes were the result of a campaign by the social justice organization Color of Change. In a letter, Color of Change wrote that plantations are physical reminders of one of the most horrific human rights abuses the world has ever seen. The wedding industry routinely denies the violent conditions Black people faced under chattel slavery by promoting plantations as romantic places to marry.
Color of Change posted the news on Facebook, where it was, of course, received with appropriate empathy and contemplation. The 600 comments included lots of gems such as Proud of our civil war plantation wedding! Eat shit color of change [sic]!! because one exclamation point wasnt enough. There was the old-faithful slavery was too long ago argument, with one commenter adding, So stupid. That was hundreds of years ago. Why not call them beautiful homes or restored homes. Are they canceling castle weddings too? And the unheard-of sentiment: There were slaves of every color.
The basic themes were echoed by the wedding vendors quoted in news reports: that slavery was in the past, that it wasnt that bad, that the splendor of plantations has outlived whatever negativity they might represent. While these pronouncements can be easily countered with reason, logic unfortunately doesnt matter.
Slavery was indeed in the past a shocker to readers, Im sure. Yet this hasnt prevented America from fervently preserving the history it does deem worthwhile, no matter how far back or inconsequential. Many Americans zealously defend their right to praise the Confederate flag, defend inanimate buildings from demolition or restoration (have you seen the passion among landmark preservationists?), and, yes, scroll endlessly through plantation-inspo, with none of the icky historical context.
Its not just about the maintenance of white power structures, but the prioritization of white Americans feelings and experiences
Historical texts, news articles and academic research are all available for anyone genuinely interested in examining slaverys brutality, which was often most severe in the deep south states where slave-owners built plantation mansions. If anything, the cruelty of the institution has been underestimated. Southern school districts are known to issue textbooks reducing enslaved black men, women and children to mere workers rather than what they were: forced laborers who often lived in perpetual terror and were sold as property with no human rights.
Theres also the persistent trope that black people were happy slaves. But most African Americans dont find much joy in seeing plantations glorified and their human histories deemed a niggling inconvenience.
For people committed to this narrative, however, facts dont matter. That their feelings are regularly given such credence reveals one end of Americas white supremacist spectrum. While we tend to associate white supremacy with reactionary violence and alt-right trolls, it also lives in more subtler spaces. Its not just about the maintenance of white power structures, but the prioritization of white Americans feelings and experiences.
These are the same feelings that have discounted black oppression in every era of black American life. In 1964, just a few months after the Civil Rights Act was passed and its effects were yet to be seen, a majority of white New Yorkers polled by the New York Times felt that the civil rights movement had gone too far. While the Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act had yet to be passed, claims of reverse discrimination already abounded.
Today, plenty of people still claim that the Confederacy had nothing to do with hatred, and was a movement founded for personal freedom and states rights. Similarly, discrimination against black consumers and homeowners wasnt about subjugation, but asserting ones private rights without government interference.
The same logic guides the people who apparently believe that wedding websites restricting plantation content is an affront to the abstract rights of white Americans. White people being told what to do, even in theory, is a problem.
Many white Americans insist that they had no role in slavery and that it was so long ago. Yet they seem quite adamant about defending it. Of course, denying black Americans pain and preserving and normalizing the symbols of black subjugation is just as American as slavery itself.
View original post here:
Plantation weddings are wrong. Why is it so hard for white Americans to admit that? - The Guardian
- The alt-right Spanish leader promising to destroy a rotten system - The Times - September 19th, 2024 [September 19th, 2024]
- Amandla Stenberg Says The Acolyte Cancellation Was Not a Shock Due to Alt-Right Hate Toward the Series - IndieWire - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Amandla Stenberg Says The Acolyte Cancellation Was Not a Shock Due to Alt-Right Hate Toward the Series - imdb - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- The Acolyte Lead Amandla Stenberg Claims Star Wars Series Was The Target Of Hyper-Conservative Bigotry From The Alt-Right - Bounding Into Comics - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- The ugly conversion of Candace Owens The alt-Right promised her power and devotion - UnHerd - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Hawk tuah girl: How she became a bizarre and unwitting icon for the alt-right. - Slate - July 8th, 2024 [July 8th, 2024]
- The Boys season 4 episode 6 recap and Easter eggs: an alt-right cocktail party takes a nasty turn - Gamesradar - July 8th, 2024 [July 8th, 2024]
- Lesbian The Boys Actress Valorie Curry Glad Shes Mocking The Alt-Right - Star Observer - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Here's why lesbian actress Valorie Curry enjoys playing a right-wing role on The Boys - Gay Times - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Alt-Tech: Down the Far Right Rabbit Hole - Grey Dynamics - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- How has Pepe the Frog become a far-right icon? - Far Out Magazine - June 20th, 2024 [June 20th, 2024]
- Save Europe: the alt-right movement spreading hate with dance music - Dazed - June 20th, 2024 [June 20th, 2024]
- TV Review: THE BOYS Season 4 is a Pizzagate parody of Donald Trump's Alt-Right - Comics Beat - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- The kids are alt-right: why todays youth are embracing extremism - HeraldScotland - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Nicki Minaj Is Cozying Up To Ben Shapiro And Its A Good Reminder For Us All - Yahoo Canada Sports - February 6th, 2024 [February 6th, 2024]
- Alt-Right Wackadoodles Now Impersonating the NorCal Journalists Who Exposed Their 'Zoom-Bombing' of City Meetings - SFist - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- ICYMI: Trump loses in court again, and Taylor Swift broke their alt-right hearts - Daily Kos - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- The alt-right saw Taylor Swift as an 'Aryan goddess.' She shook them off as 'repulsive' - Daily Kos - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- How the Welsh flag has been hijacked by the far-right in Brittany - Nation.Cymru - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Doja Cat Responds To Backlash Over Alt-Right T-Shirt: 'It's Not An Attack' - HipHopDX - December 17th, 2023 [December 17th, 2023]
- Marvel and DC Writer Mark Waid Rejects Mark Millar's Call To Root Out Comic Book 'Cancel Pigs', Dishonestly Paints ... - Bounding Into Comics - December 17th, 2023 [December 17th, 2023]
- Soda Jerk's Hello Dankness The Brooklyn Rail - Brooklyn Rail - October 5th, 2023 [October 5th, 2023]
- What We Know About 'Microchip,' the FBI's Far-Right Judas - Southern Poverty Law Center - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- 'Against All Enemies' Explores Why Veterans Are Drawn to ... - Military.com - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- The American alt-right wants to set up shop in the UK - Tortoise Media - May 20th, 2023 [May 20th, 2023]
- What you need to know about Princeton's James Madison Program - The Daily Princetonian - May 20th, 2023 [May 20th, 2023]
- Make a noise and make it clear! How John Farnhams Youre the Voice became Australias anthem - The Guardian - May 20th, 2023 [May 20th, 2023]
- Succession recap: season four, episode eight nothing is more sadistic than the words Is that even true? - The Guardian - May 16th, 2023 [May 16th, 2023]
- How younger voters will impact elections: How legacy media and social media impact old and young voters - Brookings Institution - May 16th, 2023 [May 16th, 2023]
- Is Mencken Based on Trump in 'Succession'? He's an Alt-Right ... - Distractify - May 16th, 2023 [May 16th, 2023]
- Irish Times apologises for hoax AI article about womens use of fake tan - The Guardian - May 16th, 2023 [May 16th, 2023]
- The Best Books to Read in 2023 - The New York Times - May 16th, 2023 [May 16th, 2023]
- The Reinvention of the Latin American Right - NACLA - April 13th, 2023 [April 13th, 2023]
- Pentagon leaks: how much damage will they cause? - The Guardian US - April 13th, 2023 [April 13th, 2023]
- Frog Decor Is Living in My Head Rent-Free - Architectural Digest - April 13th, 2023 [April 13th, 2023]
- Five Ways to Have More Constructive Disagreements - Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley - March 30th, 2023 [March 30th, 2023]
- Succession: The real people who inspired the HBO hit - VOGUE India - March 28th, 2023 [March 28th, 2023]
- The web firm that wants to stop you getting 'cancelled' - BBC - March 28th, 2023 [March 28th, 2023]
- Dutch Elections Produce Another Popular Wave But the Same Prime ... - Foreign Policy - March 23rd, 2023 [March 23rd, 2023]
- Trial of 2016 Twitter Troll to Test Limits of Online Speech - The New York Times - March 23rd, 2023 [March 23rd, 2023]
- John Krull: Waiting for the waves in Nebraska - Kokomo Tribune - March 23rd, 2023 [March 23rd, 2023]
- Denver's Black, Jewish communities focus on shared history of ... - The Colorado Sun - March 23rd, 2023 [March 23rd, 2023]
- The Dangerous Subtlety of the Alt-Right Pipeline - February 26th, 2023 [February 26th, 2023]
- How the Alt-Right Happened | American University, Washington, DC - February 10th, 2023 [February 10th, 2023]
- The Women Behind The 'Alt-Right' : NPR - NPR.org - February 10th, 2023 [February 10th, 2023]
- Kanye West Praises Adolf Hitler in Alex Jones Interview Billboard - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Michelle Malkin Fired After Defending Nick Fuentes - Mediaite - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Netflix Removed Kanye's 'Harmful Alt-Right Beliefs' From David ... - November 22nd, 2022 [November 22nd, 2022]
- Where Are All the Women on This Alt-Right, Anti-Choice, Toxic ... - November 22nd, 2022 [November 22nd, 2022]
- Forbes Gets Punked - Labels FTX Former CEO's Girlfriend a "New Darling ... - November 22nd, 2022 [November 22nd, 2022]
- Alt-Right Picks Wrong Side in Dutch Farm Crisis - November 22nd, 2022 [November 22nd, 2022]
- Is that an OK sign? A white power symbol? Or just a right-wing troll? - November 1st, 2022 [November 1st, 2022]
- Dark Enlightenment - Wikipedia - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Shapiro poised to break spending record in governor's race after raising $25M this summer - Pennsylvania Capital-Star - October 1st, 2022 [October 1st, 2022]
- Alt-right conspiracy theorist, Stop the Steal and Pizzagate pusher ... - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- What the Woke Left and the Alt-Right Share - Project Syndicate - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- Mothers of the movement: Leadership by alt-right women paves the way for violence - The Conversation - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- Who is Ryder Ripps, Artist Trying To Take Down Bored Ape Yacht Club ARTnews.com - ARTnews - September 17th, 2022 [September 17th, 2022]
- White nationalism, fueled by social media, is on the rise and attracting violent young white men - Arizona Mirror - August 24th, 2022 [August 24th, 2022]
- Flags of the alt-right, white supremacists - pennlive.com - August 22nd, 2022 [August 22nd, 2022]
- January 6 Hearings Rile up Alt-Right Extremists Online - Business Insider - August 22nd, 2022 [August 22nd, 2022]
- When Did Racism Begin? - The Chronicle of Higher Education - August 22nd, 2022 [August 22nd, 2022]
- Standing Against Transphobia: On School Boards & in the State Houses - LGBTQ Victory Institute - August 22nd, 2022 [August 22nd, 2022]
- How Rad-Trad Catholics Weaponized the Rosary - The Atlantic - August 14th, 2022 [August 14th, 2022]
- Five years after her daughter's death at the Unite the Right rally, Heather Heyer's mother reflects - WBUR News - August 14th, 2022 [August 14th, 2022]
- That's A Price I'm Willing To Pay: Wyoming's Rep. Liz Cheney Emphasizes Role In Jan. 6 Investigation And Expected Loss Ahead Of Tuesday's Primary -... - August 14th, 2022 [August 14th, 2022]
- State officials reaffirm access to reproductive health services post-Roe | Five for the Weekend - Pennsylvania Capital-Star - August 14th, 2022 [August 14th, 2022]
- In an environment of threats and fear, Kansans have the chance to create a more loving state - Kansas Reflector - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Steve Bannon Found Guilty of Contempt Related to Jan. 6 Inquiry - The New York Times - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- The Wendy Williams Shows YouTube Channel Is Gone - Them - July 6th, 2022 [July 6th, 2022]
- 'Minions 2' And 'Stranger Things' Show The Power Of Original Franchises - Forbes - July 6th, 2022 [July 6th, 2022]
- Alt-Right Incels at Deep State Daily Stormer Site Celebrate Buffalo ... - July 4th, 2022 [July 4th, 2022]
- How 'alt-right' MAGA extremism has infiltrated the Libertarian Party ... - July 4th, 2022 [July 4th, 2022]
- Trump and his mob tried to overthrow American democracy and threaten to try again - Ohio Capital Journal - June 28th, 2022 [June 28th, 2022]
- Pacifism is the wrong response to the war in Ukraine - The Guardian - June 28th, 2022 [June 28th, 2022]
- Your Handy Guide to the Absolute Worst People in American Politics - Rolling Stone - June 19th, 2022 [June 19th, 2022]
- The Hysterical Style in American Academe - The Chronicle of Higher Education - June 19th, 2022 [June 19th, 2022]
- The Creators and Stars of Circle Jerk Just Want to Put On a Show - Vogue - June 19th, 2022 [June 19th, 2022]
- Your Take: The January 6th hearings - The Fulcrum - June 19th, 2022 [June 19th, 2022]
- The Depp-Heard trial has played right into the hands of far-right extremists. - Vox.com - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]