I work on Q+A social media and see racist abuse every day. You might be shocked who writes it

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For the past few years, I’ve worked as a social media producer for a high-profile show, which made headlines in recent weeks after our beloved presenter had to take a break.

During my time at Q+A, I can tell you one thing: if you’re surprised by conversations about racism, you may be part of the problem.

My role is to create content and moderate the Q+A pages of social networks, and sometimes even ABC News.

Stan isn’t on social media, so his critics often come to our page to express their rage.

The questions and answers encourage open debate and conversation, but the vile stuff I see on a regular basis is astounding.

Politicians and public figures call Twitter and call it a cesspool, but for the hundreds of despicable comments that appear on Twitter, there are thousands more on Facebook and YouTube and other platforms.

You have the faceless trolls, but you also see profiles that use photos of their dogs or children making racist remarks about Stan’s skin color; or accounts that post about “spreading kindness” and the like, also spitting out bigotry when we have someone Indigenous or queer on the panel.

If you knew what some of your loved ones and close friends are saying to each other from behind the comfort of their screens, you’d be horrified.

What does it mean to be anti-racist?

“Racism can have the kindest face,” Stan Grant writes in his book, The Queen is Dead, in one of the sections where he talks about his experience growing up as a Wiradjuri man.

It’s a lesson I already know, but it’s a constant reminder every time I moderate these comments.

You could blame the anonymity that social media brings that allows people to express opinions that they would never be brave enough to express in real life.

Or maybe the algorithms that keep people in their bubble, especially ones like Facebook where there’s hardly any accountability because it’s not that public.

The truth is, few people call those they know because it’s easier to hold strangers or organizations accountable.

A true ally is someone who speaks out against injustice, even if the person they are making uncomfortable is someone they know.

Sometimes the people who commit acts of racism are people you love and isn’t that a true testament to how much you care about a person when you help them become better people instead of allowing Or ignore bad behavior?

‘Casual racism’ is still racism

Some people have this idea that racism is a thing of the past because they don’t see aggressive forms of racism or segregation occurring on the same scale.

But everyday racism (or “casual racism”) is the kind that is not overt. It may be hidden behind smiles and jokes, but it’s still racism.

For me, personally, it comes in the form of people talking to me slowly and then wondering that I know English or that I’m articulate and outspoken despite the headscarf around my head.

These are the friends whose partners make and laugh at non-white jokes, or claim that their parents don’t like their partners because “our cultures are just too different” (when you know they wouldn’t). not as critical if their partners were “white”).

It’s the editors and supervisors who reduce us to our identities and relegate us to writing about our communities, while whispering in the background that “it’s not going to be okay.”

It’s having reporters my age, mostly women of color, telling their anguish because their own supervisors don’t take their ideas seriously and hide behind kind smiles and condescending words, or speak to them differently when he there is no one around.

This form of racism is just as insidious, if not more so.

People get defensive when their “harmless” words and actions are denounced and hide behind good intentions and words like “political correctness”, “awakening”, and “people can’t take a joke”.

If you’ve ever reacted this way, ask yourself why that was your response.

Bigotry is more than just hurt feelings or name calling. As a privileged person, you might be hurt, but you still live in a power structure built with you in mind.

White privilege doesn’t mean you never take on challenges. But even in these spaces of difficulty, whether in terms of socio-economics, gender, sexuality, disability, white people still hold the power and have the loudest voices.

Are the media to blame?

In his final Q+A talk before taking a break, Stan Grant says he’s part of the problem and “too often we [the media] are the poison in the blood of our society”.

“We in the media need to ask ourselves if we are truly honoring a world worth living in.”

It’s interesting to see how the media reacted after Stan’s break. They range from promises and apologies to rival media blaming each other.

It’s annoying to see journalists and media organizations belittle Stan’s story using it as an excuse to get clicks instead of taking this moment to reflect on themselves.

Part of reporting with impartiality is examining the biases within ourselves and the spaces in which we operate.

As members of the media, it is our duty to do this for the people we write for.

We cannot simply blame social media platforms and their owners. It is also our responsibility, whether we are a public or private broadcaster.

It’s not enough to hire diverse faces when our voices are either silenced or seen as valid only when they echo the status quo.

Too often, journalists and diverse talent are reduced to quotas to meet and show that companies are making progress.

The conversation should not only be about accountability, but also about the current structures of the spaces in which we operate.

The reality is that newsrooms always become less diverse as you rise in rank. Editors and other decision makers are still overwhelmingly straight, male and white.

Don’t lie, you see the color

Whether you’re someone who claims to be anti-racist and “see no color”, or an editor or someone in a position of power in the media, we are all complicit.

We all have our own prejudices, sometimes unconscious. This is reflected in the systems and institutions in which we operate.

When we are confronted with the experiences of First Nations people or non-white people in Australia, the conversation can go awry, in part because it is riddled with guilt.

Guilt is not a pleasant feeling, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be constructive.

In fact, talking about race doesn’t have to be divisive, it could be what brings us together for healing and justice.

And we can never achieve this if our fingers are pointed at everyone but ourselves.

Republished from abc.net.au on May 28, 2023

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