Being “Polite” Doesn’t Mean S***

Because it does not mean you actually care.

When Black-Indigenous-POC people discuss the ways racism manifest in the modern world, some white people say we are being divisionary because most of them are not rude or harassing POC.

A lot of these specific white people will say “But most of us are not problematic. So clearly the issue is not as prevalent as you say it is.”

No honey, what you are seeing is “politeness” and “etiquette.”

That doesn’t mean you actually treat people properly or that you don’t have bigoted beliefs. It only means you know how to present the “proper” face to the world.

By the time we are 5 years old, most of us have learned to say please and thank you, good morning and have a good night to everyone we encounter. We know to smile and nod politely and not to be unnecessarily abrupt with others.

That doesn’t make a person kind, and it d*** sure does not mean a white person is not a supporter of racism.

Outside of racism, just in general everyone knows how to be polite even when they don’t like someone.