#and i know hungary is the obscure country for many people lol

[dramatic-dolphin]

it's kinda interesting to me that you never remember barbados. one of my friends is from barbados which makes it one of the more significant countries to me, so i'll never forget it in a world map or armericas map. yeah i just think it's interesting which 'obscure' countries some people always remember or forget

oh 100%. for me i always remember angola because a kid from there came to visit our class once. same with tanzania, one of my friends in primary school lived there for some years, so i could pick it out on a blind map every time.

there's a lot of 'obscure' countries a lot of people forget about because it's not relevant to them, but at the same time it means home to hundreds of thousands, and for many others it's "my best friend is from there :)" or "i visited on vacation and it was the best time in my life" or a hundred other small things. and idk man just thinking about it fills me with a sense of wonder. i ❤️ the world.

[lunatheranter]

#5 Series: White People Are Evil!!!1!!

Yes, we are all evil. Every single person on the planet with pale skin is 100% Satan-born ignorant scum. Nice 👌 This rant is coming from several places. It's coming from my own experiences and perspective. It's coming from my POC friends who are tired of having oppression prescribed to them. Who are as tired as I am with their white friends being attacked for disgreeing or agreeing or just showing up to the party. It's coming from a place that's unplugged from the fucking matrix. This rant is largely anecdotal, because it's also personal, but who doesn't love a good anecdote? Or ten. 1. "Why don't you just leave then?" Recently in the comments of some or another Facebook post, a (white) girl made a joke about the US being a mess. Somebody subreplied that she should just leave, if she hated it so much. This girl came back like lol I'm from Hungary idk what you're talking about. Because some white people AREN'T AMERICAN!! ISN'T THAT AMAZING!!!! This is sale point one of this rant. Europe is hella white. Some white people, would you believe, were born in largely POC countries. Would you believe!! There are all types of people everywhere!! NOT ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE AMERICAN ISN'T THAT INCREDIBLE!!!!!! 2. You White People™ Again in the Facebook comments (notorious for The Discourse™). I watched a clip from a film in which an African guy had taken artefacts from a museum & was on trial, arguing that he had not stolen them because they had been stolen from Africa in the first place. (If anybody knows what film this is hmu bc I lowkey wanna watch it). I noticed in the comments an ongoing (in some places surprisingly civil) intersectional debate about the ownership of art, with even many native Africans suggesting that the art should stay in the museum because art belongs to everybody. I commented on this discussion: [I'm not sure how I feel about this perspective. It's interesting to see the contrasting views across race lines in the comments. "Does anything ever really belong to anybody?" It's a curious thought.] This was my entire comment. I did not state an opinion. I expressed my interest in a discussion. The tirade of abuse I was subject to was unreal. One person subreplied with an entire rant, condensing me to an Evil White Person™, accusing me of ignoring historical fact and trying to blot out Black culture. The main catcher? My name is Luna Kwon. It is a Korean name. In my profile picture, my face is mostly obscured. This person had no reason to assume that I am white. And I didn't express an opinion. I was on an endeavour to educate myself on the opinions of others. I literally got dragged for thinking. 3. Yes it's Facebook again. This is the article which largely prompted my writing this rant this morning. You can read it here: http://afropunk.com/2017/07/white-friends-comes-trauma-im-not-willing-deal-anymore/ A few things to note: it's on Afropunk which is a POC forum, and while I understand that this is a POC space, the headline is nonetheless inflammatory. Secondly, it is one person's experience. One American person's experience in a Southern state and we all know what they're famous for. I read the article. I read the article and spent the whole time thinking "What? Really? Who does that??" Because I certainly wouldn't even consider behaving like any of the situations this person describes, and I don't know anybody who would, either. Maybe it's because I grew up in a metropolitan area, went to a metropolitan school, and have all of about 3 white friends. Maybe it's because I view every individual as an individual and I cannot comprehend judging person B, C and D based on person A's behaviour. Before anybody starts going off like we're in the Facebook comments, I'm not trying to invalidate this woman's experience. I hope she would not try to invalidate mine. What she's dealt with is what she's dealt with and if other people identify, that's their experience. Nonetheless this view (the inflammatory nature of the writing, not the content) is grotesquely separational (as somebody got dragged hard in the comments for pointing out) bc if my POC friends suddenly dropped me because I'm white (not only would I have no friends but) I would be very upset. I would want to understand exactly what I did to offend them. I would want to correct that behaviour. But I'm sure that this would never happen because, as I've said, I cannot imagine behaving in any of the ways the author of the article described and I would say to her: those people are not your friends. And it's not because they're white, it's because they're ignorant bigots. What you want to say is "having bigoted, ignorant, racist friends is a trauma I'm not willing to deal with". Because I'm from the UK. I live in a metropolis. My closest friends consist of: one Yemeni Muslim, one Punjab Indian, one mixed-race British-White/Indian, one Caribbean, one Korean (born and raised), one Chinese, one White with untraceable lineage and one White-British. I have no concept of racial sterotyping. Disrespecting another culture is completely alien behaviour to me. I've spent my whole life trying to understand and integrate into other cultures, to cultivate a greater understanding of my friends' backgrounds, to gain a deep comprehension of what it means to be culturally respectful. Because I grew up in this metropolitan environment, it is second nature. I don't even think about it. I also want to point out that the person in point 2 decided that I can "probably trace my lineage down through many generations" so let me clear that up *just incase she's watching*: my family (father's side, my legal family name) originates from German war refugees. I can trace my lineage back to the First World War, because my surname was fake from the moment they hit dry land. My mother is from a closed adoption. I have no freakin idea where I come from. As opposed to some of my friends, who can trace back to their great x16 grandmother's neighbour's uncle's cat's second cousin because they are descended from migrants. But yeah you looked at my skin tone in bright sunlight and determined that you know everything about me. So how about you take a fucking seat. When I hear "white people" I hear "yeah, you". When that finger is pointing, you better be damn clear who you're pointing it at because I am sick of being shamed for my skin colour and I am sick of feeling ashamed. I am Welsh. We have a rich history and culture dating back to the ancient Celts - can I not celebrate that, because it's a white culture? Empowerment is one thing, and I'm all for it. I hate that many POC suffer on a daily basis, I can't comprehend it, we should all be equal and free to seek happiness. But shaming people you don't know based on their skin tone is (racist and) not born from a desire for empowerment, it comes from a place of anger-fuelled supremacy. When I hear "white people are evil" I hear "I am not capable of rational thought". I hear "I think I'm the centre of the universe and everybody shares my experience and view". Shaming others is not the path to empowerment. We've already established this argument within feminism: tearing down other women does not make you an empowered woman. Well tearing down other people does not make you an empowered person. It makes you a bigot. You attack me for something Person A did, that makes you the same as Person A. Go yell in the mirror.