People (as you could probably see in any discussion where this article pops up) have a problem with the idea.
Yes. People have a problem with the idea that ethnic minorities should have a space for them. They think this article is pro segregation and is divisive to the so called 'melting pot' that is America.
Well, as predicted, I'm going to tell them to GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT AND SIT AAAALL THE WAY DOWN. My target audience already knows why, but I'll tell anyone else who may be reading this in case they don't know.:
Any time a minority seeks to belong to a group that caters to their interests, lo and behold, some "well meaning" White person has to interject, and say something like :
"If White people did this, it would be considered racist. Why can't White people deserve to have safe spaces without minorities?"
Here's why:
There are many places that cater towards a White only audience. White is considered a general norm. They can turn on any television show and feel represented in many lights. There are restaurants that serve food targeted for White audiences that exist (Irish pubs for example), and they can feel at ease whenever they go anywhere.
But what they fail to realize is that anybody could go and spend money in any establishment geared towards another ethnicity.
It seems the only time they have problems is when Black people seek safe spaces.
Here's the thing:
Nobody is forcing White people to visit clubs, business, etc that cater towards Black people. No one is forcing them to tune in to BET (which serves as a go to argument for those who want a White Entertainment Television channel). In fact, Telemundo is a channel geared towards people who speak Spanish. If I wanted to brush up on my Spanish, I am free to watch it. Again, nobody is forcing people to watch Telemundo against their will. All of these things, and spaces are optional.
And that's the point.
In a country where a person may be made to feel isolated, it feels nice to have your own "safe space" where you can let your hair down so to speak. This is a luxury afforded by many White people. They can go anywhere and feel invited because their whiteness in the United States has been set as the norm. However, this luxury had been denied time and time again when it came to the needs of Black people.
This goes back to what I've said before regarding Black businesses:
No one balks about other nationalities starting businesses that cater to them. No one balks when people of Asian descent start up their own businesses. In fact New York has a prominent Hadisic Jewish neighborhood that caters to the needs of Hadisic Jews. And yet, no one has called any of them racist. In fact, these neighborhoods are looked at as tales to tell the rest of the world that they too, can make it in America. It's just that when Black people want a taste of the American dream, they get deemed as racist and chided for wanting to cater to their own people. And that includes the feelings towards the desire for Black people to want our own safe spaces.
Even when Black people expressed outrage regarding excessive killings by police, someone somewhere decided that #AllLivesMatter instead of #BlackLivesMatter.
Really?
Really.
It's like they're saying the following, "We really need to stop their little protest and correct them because ALL lives matter, and not just Black lives! Why are they not acknowledging us too?"
And you're left standing there looking at them like this.
And whenever Black people go online, faceless users decide it's okay to hurl racial slurs when playing video games, send death and or rape threats, and hack into their computers to obtain personal information, in hopes they can expose you and maybe find out where you live. Or they'll just do the old fashioned thing and troll their spaces with racism, and/or by asking deliberately obtuse questions that reflect their biases. Reddit's blackladies forum experienced that on many many occasions, and it could be seen in other fine sections of reddit. One of which is called "The Chimpire", which is plethora of subreddits * dedicated towards the hatred of Black people. I mean, they even took the time to create mock subreddits with similar layouts of the original Black subreddits they were mocking in the first place. They even troll the internet in order to fabricate Black stories as well as pretend they're Black in order to disguise their slander.
Now if all that doesn't make a race or subset of people feel unsafe among the majority race or subset, then I don't know what to tell you.
Why don't they just go ahead and admit that anything centered towards Black people will be met with hostility and the fact that its possible for such spaces to exist makes them feel nervous and they'll be forced to deal with some issues they are too afraid to touch.
And that's really why they're uncomfortable with the idea in the first place.
But then if they admit it, they'll look like a "bunch of pussies", so their only option is to keep the fuckery alive instead of address those underlying issues, I guess, which makes them well... look like a "bunch of pussies".
Maybe that's the Catch 22.
*As of 8/21/15, The Chimpire has gone private, meaning one must sign up in order to make posts or become a member. This change has been brought to us by reddit's quarantine program. It's where the formerly public subreddits have been given a "safe space" on reddit. Meanwhile, r/blackladies, whose motto is literally "a safe space" enjoys the treat of more harassment.
