10 Things Black People Wish White People Would Stop Doing

Laura M. Quainoo
Momentum
Published in
5 min readMar 5, 2022

--

Author’s Note: I published this as a comment elsewhere, but thought some of you might appreciate the read.

I find it interesting that there’s so much that White people don’t know about Black people and our culture. How is it that we live next door to each other, work together and regularly engage in all sorts of settings, yet so much about Black people remains invisible to Whites? Guess it all goes a long way in explaining why there’s such a divide in so many other areas of our lives. I’m of the belief that there’s little that Black people don’t know about Whites, mainly because part of our survival involves studying and knowing the dos and don’ts of White culture. Stepping on White toes has historically meant the difference between life and death for us. Conversely and, again, historically speaking, White people haven’t had to be too concerned with what is and what isn’t offensive to Black people and so here we are and please take notes!

Photo by David Travis on Unsplash

It’s impossible to cover every single way there is to offend Black people, but here is a short list (and a part 2 is dropping tomorrow, so stay tuned):

  1. Don’t try to use a Black person to be your “token” Black friend. Be genuine with your friendship or be gone.
  2. Do not mention Black on Black crime in discussions about police brutality…

--

--

Momentum
Momentum

Published in Momentum

Momentum is a blog that captures and reflects the moment we find ourselves in, one where rampant anti-Black racism is leading to violence, trauma, protest, reflection, sorrow, and more. Momentum doesn’t look away when the news cycle shifts.

Laura M. Quainoo
Laura M. Quainoo

Written by Laura M. Quainoo

I write about race, CHOSSA (Children of Stolen & Sold Africans…ie Black people), embracing Africa as our ancestral homeland & other stuff as my Spirit moves me.

Responses (28)