20 Questions after watching The Bachelor finale last night while the Nets and Knicks game was on commercial breaks:
1. How much racism do you think would have been acceptable to Matt?
2. On the “she’s racist, but she’s cute and I want to bone, and that makes this a difficult decision” spectrum—which I assume ranges from “mild blackface in middle school” to “a Mein Kampf back tat”—where’s the point of no return?
3. If, for instance, the antebellum party thing happened in 2011, would it have made a difference?
4. Or if the proceeds from the party went to the United Negro College Fund?
5. I guess I’m just trying to understand, for Black people who knowingly date racists, if there’s a sliding scale?
6. A rubric?
7. What if the family is super racist—like they literally rock capes and consider themselves racist superheroes (i.e.: Captain Keep It White America, Antebellum-Man, Captain Marvel At These Coons On Welfare)—but she claims not to be?
8. Does that matter?
9. And does attractiveness matter?
10. For instance, if you think she’s a perfect 10, is she allowed to repeat the “niggas” in “Niggas in Paris”?
11. But if she’s just kinda cute, does she have to listen to the censored version?
12. And how much racism does “kinda cute” allow?
13. An awkward tweet about gentrification?
14. An out of context use of the word “ghetto?”
15. Using “ghetto” in any context, actually?
16. If I dated racists, I think I’d be fine with a few random, out-of-context “ghettos,” as long as she brought something else to the table, maybe?
17. I think a consistent Snkrs app hookup might be worth some mild racism, if you were into that sort of thing—but I’m just spitballing here, I think?
18. Do you think this public racist scare is enough for Matt to stop dating racists?
19. Or will he just be more discerning, and date racists with no internet footprints?
20. Either way, I hope he eventually finds the racist of his dreams?
DISCUSSION
I have no idea what’s going on but I assume she’s racist? I myself have definitely been with people who’ve blurted out some racist fuckshit when they were really stressed out, and I definitely had to cut them off.
In a lot of ways, it fucks with your head long-term, because you don’t know how many people around you think that “you” are ok (aka “one of the good ones”) but not Black folks in general or whatever.
We’ve spent so long letting people who’ve said and done racist shit determine who is or isn’t a racist (surprise, it’s never them, because they ‘looked in their heart’ and aren’t racist, or it was their diabetes, or fucking whatever), and folks have dug themselves this enormous chasm between racist “people” (who are bad) and racist “actions” (which are bad but ‘understandable’ because actions are the product of society and stress and nurture but definitely not attached to any kind of intent when it makes people look bad)
I mean, if a guy calling a basketball game can call some kneeling girls the f----n n----s and “not be racist” because that’s not who he is, then, I mean, nobody can be racist.