I Unfriended You Today

Summary

The author expresses their decision to unfriend individuals on social media due to their inability or unwillingness to engage in civil discussions about important topics.

Abstract

The author of this article, titled "I Unfriended You Today," addresses their former friends and acquaintances, expressing their frustration with the lack of meaningful conversation and engagement on social media. The author recounts instances where they attempted to discuss politically charged topics, such as white privilege and the "All Lives Matter" movement, but were met with silence or dismissive responses. They also mention being hurt by the use of derogatory terms like "libtard" and "fucktard," which they find offensive and disrespectful to individuals with Down syndrome. The author emphasizes the importance of words, discussions, listening, civility, and friendships, and ultimately decides to unfriend those who do not share these values. The article concludes with a reflection on the significance of this decision and the hope that people can still work together for the common good despite their differences.

Bullet points

The author unfriended some of their former friends on social media due to their inability or unwillingness to engage in civil discussions about important topics.
The author attempted to discuss politically charged topics, such as white privilege and the "All Lives Matter" movement, but was met with silence or dismissive responses.
The author was hurt by the use of derogatory terms like "libtard" and "fucktard," which they find offensive and disrespectful to individuals with Down syndrome.
The author emphasizes the importance of words, discussions, listening, civility, and friendships.
The author reflects on the significance of their decision to unfriend certain individuals and hopes that people can still work together for the common good despite their differences.

Did You Notice?

dear former friends:

I unfriended you today did you notice?

when you posted politically charged memes I responded

calmly, succinctly sensibly and ready to discuss

crickets that’s all I heard crickets

you posed a question “What’s your opinion of what white privilege is?” I responded

“White privilege isn’t an opinion. It’s a thing.” and then I explained the thing that white privilege is

crickets just crickets

more than once you shared pictures “All Lives Matter!”

I hoped you’d understand when I said “If you happened upon a breast cancer awareness walk would you shout angrily ‘ALL cancer matters!’ ?”

maybe analogy isn’t your thing even so I was ready for discussion, friendly discourse something, anything

but all I got were more pesky crickets

when you used the terms “libtard” “fucktard” “Trumptard” I sent you a private message politely stating the meaning behind these words and how hurtful they are your reply “I won’t be censored.” led to mine “I wish you the best, I’m unfriending you now.”

I’m sure you don’t mean to lessen the value of folks with Down syndrome but by using these terms that’s exactly what you are doing

when you tried to prove a point by sharing graphics that are false equivalencies I kindly pointed that out but you didn’t understand you didn’t get “comparing apples and oranges” either or didn’t want to

words matter

discussions matter

listening matters

being civil matters

friendships matter

So, I unfriended you today and that matters to me I gave it a lot of thought but maybe you didn’t even notice

This poem is an amalgam of people I’ve unfriended on Facebook over the past few months. Every one of them I’ve known in person or worked with. One or two are relatives. I certainly don’t think we should all have the same opinion. But when we lose the capability or willingness to discuss our differences and work together for the common good, well, that’s a terrible thing.

I Unfriended You Today

Did You Notice?

Injustice

Will We Rise?