#yes i did see this post reblogged uncritically by a normie liberal i follow

[sakebytheriver]

Okay. Let's talk about this post for a second

Now I think it starts off relatively okay

I'm not exactly a fan of people playing their music or the tiktok sounds from their phones without headphones, so I get the feeling but also at the same time I do think there's a huge world of difference between a person playing their speakers loud on a crowded bus or subway car and a person going on a hike in the middle of nature with a handful of other humans around them also going on that hike and bringing a speaker with them to listen to their music without their headphones getting in the way or getting sweaty while they walk

But then of course once we get through all of the people talking whimsically about some random musicians playing in public we get to the last response. Now I want you to notice how op said "speakers" but the last person said "boombox". And not just "boombox" but they said "a clown with a boombox". An absolutely hupothetical clown with a boombox mind you that they state that they would have gone out of their way to harrass just for existing in the same space as them playing music.

Now, we're about to get into the real big thing I wanna talk about with this post, so first things first can anyone in the class tell me what ethnic group is usually associated with boomboxes? Anyone? Hm? Oh yeah that's right. Black people. You know who is also more likely to be targeted by the police and their (white) neighbors for noise complaints? Oh yeah that's right. Black people. And darker skin people of color in general

Here's an article and a quote to give you proof if you want some

Like it's really not lost on me that this last response was also written by a seemingly progressive blog that literally has the word "politics" in their name even if I blocked it out for you guys. They literally perpetuated a racial microaggression and they probably don't even realize it.

Like look me right in my fucking eyes and tell me right now that you didn't read the words "clown with a boombox" and picture someone who looked like this

Like this language is so overtly charged I cannot believe liberals and progressives are just letting that shit slip by and get 10k notes without a single bit of pushback and instead just lots of agreement instead, like not one bit of self reflection to be had, huh? Not gonna think about the broader implications of the thing that you've just decided is an inherently bad thing because it slightly annoys you?

And look, I get it, I do. I am an autistic bitch who does not enjoy human beings who just let their shit go without headphones, but like. They're not doing anything except existing and taking up space in a way that you don't like

There is literally nothing different between a dude playing his little fiddle on the street corner and the kid playing his boombox on the same corner

They are just two human beings existing and taking up space in a way that brings them a modicum of joy and personally I'd rather just let them both live than try to enforce some arbitrary noise constraints against them which would ultimately just mean people of color get targeted, because if you don't know how society works by now after spending decades living in it, the dominant "In" group is the one that gets to decide what's "Litter" and what's "Adding Beauty"

Maybe take a look at your internal biases and ask yourself why you have such a problem with a kid holding a boombox on his shoulder, but not a guy with a guitar 🤷‍♀️