fan mail

I got this amazing email today and just had to share

Dear Franchesca,

First of all, I loved your video, Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls. It was so funny and well done. As a white woman not only did it make me laugh but it also made me think, “have I ever said something like that?” And while I consider myself a very tolerant, open-minded person I could not be sure I hadn’t, which made me embarrassed. But that is a good thing, everyone needs to evalute their behaviors all the time, even tolerant, nice people. So thank you, not only for making me laugh, but for making me think. The best kind of comedy should do that.

I was so disgusted with the comments people left on your video and on your twitter. The most irritating ones were those made by (mostly) white girls saying, “if a white girl made this about black girls it would be considered racist.” Is it that kind of thinking that prevents open, honest discussion about race and oppression. It baffles me when white people claim that they are victims of discrimination or racism. I believe that everyone can experience prejudice, but white people can never experience racism. I will never know what it is like to have someone ask me if my hair is real, or assume certain things about me based on the color of my skin. And claiming that a video like yours is racist towards white people is completely absurd.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I think that white people (or some white people) don’t want to have to feel responsible or something. It has to do with guilt and with people thinking it is somehow easier to make yourself a victim than to take ownership over the huge problem of institutionalized racism in this country. People refuse to recognize their own privilege and deal with it. It makes me so angry and so sad. Because really the best way to deal with that kind of guilt is to fight against its cause and to work for social justice and social change.

As small as it may seem I think your video is a step in that direction. So thank you, for making me something hilarious and wonderful and thought provoking. I hope you keep making videos and just generally being the awesome person that you are.

xx
Meredith