White Boys, I Wish Your Mamas Raised You Better!

So yes, it’s open season for racist trolls here on Medium. I’ve taken the decision to «hide» their indelicate comments. Common decency is becoming a relic of the past, like the dinosaurs, it is becoming extinct.

But the more the trolls, the more I know my work is bothering people, unsettling them, and for me, that is a good thing. If what I write gets you thinking or fuming, I’ve reached my objective. You can kick and scream and insult me while you read it, that’s your problem, not mine.

You see, before I even started writing here, I witnessed what trolls can do. There seems to be a hierarchy of nastiness and vileness whereby they are concerned. Black and brown women get the most violent and vile comments — it’s no surprise that the Duchess of Sussex is the most trolled person in the world!

I want to hone in on the white male troll — because they are the ones that insult me most. Do you know how I know this? Because they often start their sentences like this:

“I’m a white man…..”

It’s as if they feel the need to establish their whiteness and maleness first. Toxic masculinity, sexism, racism, and white privilege all rolled into one — oh my, what an attractive combination — Nah, I’m just kidding.

Beyond jokes though, my big question is: who raises these men? What type of upbringing produces such monsters? In this excellent article on Medium, Ragen Chastain does an excellent and extensive job of analyzing trolls. Basically, anyone can become a troll given the right triggers and context.

I get the point, but still wonder why it is that an overwhelming number of the trolls that attack me are white and male. Is there something in the way white women are raising their boys that predisposes them to become internet bullies? I mean you’ve got to ask yourself the question at one point. And the even more important question is how can you actually break this cycle of trolling because a daddy troll will reproduce and create baby trolls into perpetuity. Indecency breeds indecency, contempt breeds contempt.

I think that the main objective of trolls is to intimidate or dissuade you from expressing yourself, from existing. What they do not know is that this black woman has had enough: a lifetime of racism has led me here, I cherish this platform, I can finally speak for the world to hear, and I will not give up.

Antiracism is important. I will never stop writing about racism and the ways in which to dismantle this social disease because so many black and brown people’s lives depend on it. It is not a fickle pursuit, it is a calling. Racism affects almost every corner of my life — like cancer, it is normal to attack it and eradicate it. You would do the same if you were in my situation.

Not sure we can do anything about the existing trolls — maybe someone can come up with troll reconversion therapy and we can send them all there to become decent human beings? Otherwise, let’s let them be, they’ll become extinct at some point. But looking into the future, how can we raise kids that don’t go on to be trolls?

I think the most important is to start with teaching empathy — from a very young age. Teach boys and girls how it feels to walk in someone else’s shoes. Put them into situations where they have to practice empathy, don’t just talk about it.

Also, expose your children to different cultures, people, and ways of thinking. Make them open-minded human beings that can listen to other’s views without becoming rude, or even worse insulting and threatening.

Teach your children mutual respect — it is the ultimate foundation for the longevity of any civilization. Civilizations start to decline when people no longer respect one another and can’t talk to one another. The Roman, Ottoman, and many long gone Empires bear testimony to that.

None of this is rocket science, but somehow, the trolls in the comments sections don’t have these basic skills. Something went wrong somewhere down the line.

In conclusion, I would say, whatever it is you are writing about, don’t let the trolls get the best of you, stand your ground, continue. You know your truth, and at the end of the day, all of their babbles become background noise.

Thanks for reading my perspective.