Op-Ed: I'm the Black person Nextdoor, trying to sort the site's value from its ugliness (via latimesopinion)
When the Black Lives Matter protests in Santa Monica were followed by lawbreaking, my local Nextdoor app exploded with racially charged epithets. A Black woman on the site was disturbed enough to create her own post to educate others about the racial undertones of the words. She was met mostly with defiant exasperation: “Thugs come in all colors.” And “people” don’t know what words to use when “everything is racist.
A worrisome merger also took hold on Nextdoor: Protesters and lawbreakers were one and the same. As if the people marching peacefully on Ocean Avenue had dropped their “I can’t breathe” signs and headed off to ransack the Third Street Promenade and small businesses on 4th Street. “No more protests here please,” one entry read. Others posted protest notifications as “warnings” to the community.
Yet I’ve long seen remnants of racism across the site that have left me with a bad feeling not only about the app, but the city I love. A few years back I felt compelled to reply to a post when a neighbor reported, “Lock your doors, windows, cars and garages!! There are 2-3 African American homeless people gathered around our mailboxes.” Based on the responses, not very many of my neighbors recognized the implicit bias, the racism in such heedless assumptions.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Black Lives Matter-LA is trying to take down the county's first Black district attorney'We've tried everything' with District Attorney Jackie Lacey, said Melina Abdullah, the group's co-founder. 'We had a deep desire to have things be different.'
Read more »
Black queer pride: LGBTQ Kentuckians at the forefront of Black Lives Matter movementMany say Pride Month, celebrated each June, would not exist if it weren't for the efforts of Black LGBTQ activists. Six Black LGBTQ individuals from Kentucky were asked what Pride means to them in 2020. Here are their stories.
Read more »
Man Confesses to Kidnapping, Raping and Killing Black Lives Matter Protester, Police SayAaron Glee, Jr. allegedly murdered Oluwatoyin Salau, 19, in his home a few days before allegedly kidnapping and killing retired state worker, Victoria Sims, 75.
Read more »
Colin Kaepernick's former team flies Black Lives Matter flag next to American flag at stadiumThe 49ers raised a Black Lives Matter flag alongside the American and California flags at their home stadium.
Read more »
Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains How 'Hamilton' Connects With Black Lives Matter MovementAs Black Lives Matter protests continue across the country, Lin-Manual Miranda revealed that he has seen many protesters take inspiration from his hit Broadway show, Hamilton
Read more »
Terry Crews: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Scrapping Season 8 Plans Over Black Lives Matter ProtestsAfter George Floyd's death, television shows about police are having to step back and reconsider the stories they need and want to tell.
Read more »