Letter from a black girl: I love you guys.

November 16, 2008 7:35 PM

A black woman posts to a "white nationalist" forum: Despite my race (I am a non-White), I think the message that Stormfront promotes is absolutely right. Some of the responses are, um, unexpected? "Love who you are, don't ever think that your abilities are limited just because you're black." "You should go about the world and be the best individual black person you can be." "We can empathize with your isolation."
posted by desjardins (24 comments total)

Whoa. Just whoa. I only read a few comments. I had to leave-just being there made me feel icky.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 7:42 PM on November 16, 2008

That's cute. Racists understand that no matter what the colour of their skin, anyone can put the effort into being really, really wrong.
If there were one site on the whole internet worthy of the NSFW tag, Stormfront would be that site. Were I a boss I'd gleefully sack employees who spent lots of time there
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:43 PM on November 16, 2008

One, I'm at work on a college campus right now. No *way* will I check that link, NSF many W's.

Two, are temperate or even positive responses really that surprising? Loving your own family doesn't automatically mean you're foaming at the mouth for the extinction of your neighbors. It fact you can even wish the best for them. These people, well some of them anyway, have extended it to a greater scale.

Obligatory self-defense denial here, I'm not a sknihead/nazi/wn/whatever.
posted by codswallop at 7:44 PM on November 16, 2008

Fuck you Metafilter. I have a new place to hang out.
posted by gman at 7:44 PM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Interesting. I have mixed feelings about these sorts of interactions. I mean, this is very weird. But it's also kind of interesting how to some extent it looks like real dialogue is going on, which is not something you'd necessarily expect from people normally labeled as racist. I think it's doubly interesting because it seems expected for people to get involved in pretty fierce debates. Even here on MeTa we so often see people line up on totally different sides of an issue.

Let's be fair, though. I doubt she would have gotten the same reception if she hadn't started out the conversation with a message that essentially said, "I think you're right".

Also that first response poem left me feeling a bit icky.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:44 PM on November 16, 2008

Awww, those neo-nazis are nothing but big softies at heart!

really racist and antisemitic softies!
posted by leotrotsky at 7:45 PM on November 16, 2008

I'm not sure why this is unexpected. Stormfront and other groups are driven primarily by fear of and/or hatred of The Other. If one of The Other comes in and says, "Hey, you guys are right!" then technically they aren't that other. They remain nominally 'other' but support the goals of one's own tribe.
posted by verb at 7:45 PM on November 16, 2008

No matter their skin color, a troll is a troll?
posted by rokusan at 7:47 PM on November 16, 2008 [3 favorites]

Don Black. Sweet sweet irony.
posted by gman at 7:48 PM on November 16, 2008

Stormfront? Really?
posted by maxwelton at 7:49 PM on November 16, 2008

It's an interesting idea but I think it's more worthy of one's personal blog than metafilter.

I'm flagging this post on principle because it's stormfront.
posted by chimaera at 7:50 PM on November 16, 2008

desjardins, WHAT. THE. HELL.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:51 PM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I wonder if they have a deletedthread equivalent I can be the star of.
posted by gman at 7:53 PM on November 16, 2008

There's a long history of collaboration between extreme nationalists, fascists and racists of various ethnic origins, even across supposedly antagonistic lines. Ideally we should take a non-discriminatory approach and shoot the lot of them.
posted by Abiezer at 7:53 PM on November 16, 2008

And I also cant believe there are BLACKS who voted for PROP 8!!!
posted by norabarnacl3 at 7:53 PM on November 16, 2008

Basic internetting rules, people. Have we forgotten them?!
posted by defenestration at 7:53 PM on November 16, 2008

Isn't there a MeFi policy about hate site linking?
posted by middleclasstool at 7:54 PM on November 16, 2008

Ditto Brandon's sentiment.
posted by a3matrix at 7:57 PM on November 16, 2008

"hey, you know something, they were right - work DOES make you free"
posted by pyramid termite at 7:57 PM on November 16, 2008

i'm not clicking on the link because i don't want to give the stormfront fucks the clicks, and i generally shun shit like that ... but don't delete this post. i might decide to check it out after i'm drunk.
posted by lester at 7:57 PM on November 16, 2008

Isn't there a MeFi policy about hate site linking?

Yes. It almost always gets deleted.
posted by mediareport at 7:59 PM on November 16, 2008

Since there's no "via," I'm curious: How exactly did you stumble across this?
posted by Rangeboy at 8:00 PM on November 16, 2008

i'm not clicking on the link because i don't want to give the stormfront fucks the clicks, and i generally shun shit like that ... but don't delete this post. i might decide to check it out after i'm drunk.

It's Just a Rickroll. Don't worry about it.
posted by gman at 8:01 PM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm not saying this isn't interesting, but seriously, NO.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:03 PM on November 16, 2008