Sam Smith is clapping back after Internet Outrage accused him of “whitesplaining” racism after he shared a story about being witness to a friend’s racist incident.
In a series of Tweets, Smith shared how the incident left him “speechless” and expressed an honest need to do more:
Pretty straightforward, right? Well, not so fast.
This being the internet in 2016, Twitter trolls (and more than one intern writing a click-baity headline) decided to take Smith to task for “whitesplaining” racism.
How about we take this to the next level?
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If you’ve never heard the term before, Urban Dictionary defines “whitesplaining” as “The paternalistic lecture given by Whites toward a person of color defining what should and shouldn’t be considered racist, while obliviously exhibiting their own racism.”
Didn’t see any of this there? Yeah, us neither.
Smith’s shocked response to experiencing racism inspired this:
…and this:
…and probably a dozen other articles that couldn’t wait to attack Sam Smith for actually saying something about racism, as inarticulate as it was (though we admit both of those were kinda funny). The Internet Outrage meter was reaching threat level orange, so Smith responded on Instagram:
“For the record, I was merely sharing an experience I had in the hope it would draw attention to ridiculous it is to be racist in 2016. This is not about me in any way, it’s about a deep rooted issue we have in our society that should now be extinct.”
“I don’t profess to know or remotely understand what it means to be on the receiving end of racial abuse, but having been bullied my whole life for being gay, what I do know is that it is wrong and completely unacceptable. Here’s to people being allowed to be people.”
Look, white people are far less likely to experience an act of overt racism firsthand, so we can understand how it would be genuinely shocking for them. For most POC it ceased to become shocking to us sometime shortly after we found out there was no Santa Claus, so we get it.
But, honestly, if we’re not going to give any wiggle room for growth for a white person who is trying to be an ally, we may as well just all hang it up and quit trying.
Smith will probably think twice before he says anything about racism in the future if he does at all, and that’s a real bummer.
UPDATE: MediaTakeOut is alleging that Smith may have been on the giving end of some questionable racial behavior himself by sharing the following tweet:
We’ve reached out to the user and we’ll keep you posted if anything develops…
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
thank you. it serves no purpose other than petty point scoring and to shut down debate. same with mansplaining and cisplaining. fuck your faux outrage..when there’s real outrages occurring happening out there
DCguy
I get why people who live that reality every day are irritated or dismissive toward Smith’s naivety but there are some other aspects.
I think the issue is, many white people know that racism exist theoretically. People read or see stories about Ferguson or Freddy Gray. But remember, there are also a huge number of articles or TV shows that go on and on about how the people that killed Grey are the real victims, poor them, Grey was a thug, and what was he doing on that street anyway, and reverse racism, and that Fergusen is a bunch of law breakers who just hate cops, and all that crap. (Fox News, looking at you).
So there is a ton of back and forth, so somebody like Smith, (In London, so it’s probably slightly different) has an idea, that perhaps minorities have some things harder, because maybe he’s heard friends say they wouldn’t date a minority, read some articles about it when he’s in his limo, or something like that. Then, all of a sudden he is confronted with the reality of what “Those people” live with every day of their lives, and even though he has read it, it’s still shocking.
So I give him a little credit for saying anything about it, however, if he really wanted to make a point why not call out the names of the officers who did it, the details and all that other stuff. He did what so many famous people do. They talk about things like bigotry or racism in their industry for example, but never say who.
Also, Smith shouldn’t have made it more about himself.
But again, at least the guy called it out, if only in a soft way.
Stache
ZZZZzzzz. Oh wait. I’m suppose to care or be outraged I guess. Lol
miserylovedme24
The thing I don’t understand is why the hell the police would be involved in the first place. Since when do verbal comments warrant that?! I’m so sick of people’s overreactions these days. It’s beyond absurd. Obviously derogatory comments are awful, but let’s not pretend someone was beat up here.
Carlos Mario
Did this article just whitesplain whitesplaining to me? All hell nah.
Avery Alvarez
“whitesplaining”, you mean that term ràcist black people use to say ‘You’re not allowed to have an opinion”?
Yeah, f that.
How about we try some blacksplaining. For example, a cop is nearby, “I dindu nufffin!”
Kangol
@Avery Alvarez: Your comment is overtly r@cist. Not on Queerty, no thanks!
DCguy
@Avery Alvarez: So when you say “Having an opinion” what you really mean is having a rac*st opinion?
Avery Alvarez
@Kangol: @DCguy: mmm, I love the SJW tears in my afternoon coffee.
drivendervish
Knowing that racism exists is one thing but witnessing a person of color or some other minority being discriminated against while your present is a whole different thing. It brings it home, it forces you to realize how prevalent it can be and it disgusts you. Anybody dissing him on social media should realize their attacking a loving, caring person who is non-judgmental and an ally they need.
People of color need to recognize that billions of white people are against discrimination but have also never seen it up close and in-person.
Daniel-Reader
There is no particular group on the planet that solely does it, or is immune from being a victim of it. Visit South America, Africa, or Asia.
Kangol
@Avery Alvarez: Look, we know that your use of “dindu” [sic] and “SJW” are r@cist, white supremacist troll words, but you’re not going to get any sympathy or slack on here. Your white supremacist friends can’t stand gay people either, so you should keep that in mind.
Please go back to Stormfront or the Fox News boards, or wherever it is that you regularly post, because “social justice” isn’t a problem for gay people; it includes GAY/LGBTIQ rights. Which you, as a closet case, are able to enjoy because of LGBTIQ people of all races. So, bye, Felicia.
damon459
@miserylovedme24: well there is a thing called verbal assault and it’s a crime, also this was in London and they do have hate speech laws….
Avery Alvarez
@Kangol: LOl, the typical nonsense, loud, whiny SJW response! What other response would there be! lol
“you’re r@cist, sèxist, bigòted, homòphobic, trànsphobic republican, closet case who watches fox news”
Lighten up, crazy. Opps, is that a double micro-aggression? LOL
Although, I don’t even know why I bother responding to a tin foil hat wearing, conspiracy theorist like you.
Seen any signs of the white, cis, het, patriarchy illuminati, latey? Yeah, I’ve seen your comments, Crazy. Sorry lunatic, but you’re way more like the “white supremacist, fox news watching, paranoid, conspiracy believing” crowd than I’ll ever be.
Bye, Girl, Bye! hahah
UltimateSin
Aww, bless his white privileged ass.
Aromaeus
My issue was the fact that you had people saying he should be praised for “shining a light”. POC see racism from day one. Race is a constant for us because we’re constantly reminded of it and we’re not praised for seeing racism or dealing with it. Yes it’s nice that he saw the light but praising him for it is literally white privilege.
Jeff Braeger
Yawn
Ummmm Yeah
Well there you go. Black racism at it’s best.
Ummmm Yeah
@UltimateSin: Is it his money or his skin color that you are jealous of?
UltimateSin
Do you even know what white privilege is? If you do then you would see that my comment was completely accurate when it comes to the basic definition of what it is. I’m sorry that it hits close to home for you, just kidding I’m actually not sorry. Now hush now, and go back to your klan meeting.
Captain Obvious
@Carlos Mario: Thank you! I wanted to post this but figured someone beat me to the punch. Enough said really. Apparently only white males are entitled to the last word and r@cism doesn’t exist unless it’s blatantly done in their presence. Should be pretty obvious why he got torn a new one but I guess those privileged enough not to experience it will never know what anyone else is talking about. The site that won’t even let us use the word r@cist is telling us how and when to respond to a white guy overstepping his bounds about r@cism… hilarious.
Sam Smith Champion of the Negroes will save us from the big bad r@cists we’ve dealt with for centuries. Let’s throw him a parade!
Update: The sky is blue and water is wet. It’s important to shine a light on this. Stay tuned for further updates.
meghanada
This is with SJWs – all they care about is keeping the outrage machine at permanent motion, so they can always parade their pseudo morality. So, whatever you do, they’re never satisfied. Don’t mention racism? It’s erasure. Mention it? You’re whitesplaining it.
@Captain Obvious: Go defend Cosby some more, you piece of shit.
olfwob
As a german white gay, the only time i – maybe – was confronted with “racism” against me, was in the year 2000 in NY City. Visiting with my british black boyfriend a gay black club. This night 5 guys told me that they don`t like our relationship and why the hell i am with my partner. I was shocked, because even in germany, no one told me to my face, that our relationship is not ok. Whatever, we told this guys “we are europeans and maybe we are not that ignorant over there?”