This is just clout chasing from terminally online weirdos. It's not only what you say and how you say it that's important, but when you say it that matters as well.
As for the original tweet, yes, she has a point. There's a pervasive pattern of white people appropriating AAE without understanding or acknowledging its origins. It already happened with "Rest in power," which was originally supposed to be reserved for Black revolutionaries who were martyred by the white supremacist state (Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, George Jackson, and so on), being uttered for agents of the white supremacist state like RBG.
Having said that, there's the elephant in the room, which is of course the fact that she would air her misgivings on Twitter before the coffin is even lowered to the ground, which is completely heinous.
I agree that Rest in Power shouldn't be used for RGB obviously but I disagree that it shouldn't be used for Heather Heyer because she's white or whatever. I'd say its appropriate to use for anyone who lived their lives for revolutionary values or was died in the face of oppression (thereby justifying its use for someone like George Floyd, who wasnt a revolutionary). Therefor I would think it appropriate for use in Brianna's case, as a hate crime victim.
Saying that its use should be reserved for a specific minority (and from the research I've done, the idea that it was first used for black people is... not necessarily accurate, same with "Say his/her name") just seems like pointless atomization of oppressed groups and the territory of radlibs.
Obviously I should check the fact that I'm white here, but again I've looked this stuff up and both phrases' history doesn't necessarily back up the idea that they were originally AAVE anyway.
In terms of "Rest in power," Black-led orgs already use it on people who aren't Black like Che and Ho, so its use already moved beyond just martyred Black revolutionaries. Saying "rest in power" to someone like John Brown wouldn't attract the ire of most Black people who aren't terminally online weirdos because Black revolutionaries like Malcolm X already acknowledge the sacrifice a white dude like Brown played towards Black liberation.
And as for "say her name," you already see Indigenous activists involved in combating MMIW use it as well. And I haven't seen any Black-led org condemn a documentary about MMIW titled Say Her Name. So why did she ignore the use of Indigenous women activists who use "say her name?" Because she's a clout chasing terminally online weirdo who understands that shitting on Indigenous women trying to stop themselves from getting kidnapped and killed would be bad for her online brand.
And rest in power is still said for people who are murder by the state for reasons other than being a revolutionary. George Floyd wasn't a revolutionary leader, he was just a guy trying to exist as a black man in amerikkka. But even that was enough for police to murder him.
Anything that sounds strong and stirring and cool is going to be appropriated because it is strong and stirring and cool. Then overuse and trivialization waters the terminology down until it comes across as trite and saccharine.
But even past that, when all you've got on the internet are a bunch of language cops and fed-jacketers, what the fuck do we even care how language is being used? If you reserve certain phrases as terms of respect for black revolutionaries, but there is no longer a black revolution within which to celebrate martyrs to the cause, why should anyone care?
Appropriation can be a gateway to radicalization when you begin to associate your own immediate peers with figures of revolutionary struggle. But if there's nobody left to emulate except the terminally online and the grifters... You can't just keep going back to the Malcolm X and Fred Hampton well forever.
This is just clout chasing from terminally online weirdos. It's not only what you say and how you say it that's important, but when you say it that matters as well.
As for the original tweet, yes, she has a point. There's a pervasive pattern of white people appropriating AAE without understanding or acknowledging its origins. It already happened with "Rest in power," which was originally supposed to be reserved for Black revolutionaries who were martyred by the white supremacist state (Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, George Jackson, and so on), being uttered for agents of the white supremacist state like RBG.
Having said that, there's the elephant in the room, which is of course the fact that she would air her misgivings on Twitter before the coffin is even lowered to the ground, which is completely heinous.
I agree that Rest in Power shouldn't be used for RGB obviously but I disagree that it shouldn't be used for Heather Heyer because she's white or whatever. I'd say its appropriate to use for anyone who lived their lives for revolutionary values or was died in the face of oppression (thereby justifying its use for someone like George Floyd, who wasnt a revolutionary). Therefor I would think it appropriate for use in Brianna's case, as a hate crime victim.
Saying that its use should be reserved for a specific minority (and from the research I've done, the idea that it was first used for black people is... not necessarily accurate, same with "Say his/her name") just seems like pointless atomization of oppressed groups and the territory of radlibs.
Obviously I should check the fact that I'm white here, but again I've looked this stuff up and both phrases' history doesn't necessarily back up the idea that they were originally AAVE anyway.
In terms of "Rest in power," Black-led orgs already use it on people who aren't Black like Che and Ho, so its use already moved beyond just martyred Black revolutionaries. Saying "rest in power" to someone like John Brown wouldn't attract the ire of most Black people who aren't terminally online weirdos because Black revolutionaries like Malcolm X already acknowledge the sacrifice a white dude like Brown played towards Black liberation.
And as for "say her name," you already see Indigenous activists involved in combating MMIW use it as well. And I haven't seen any Black-led org condemn a documentary about MMIW titled Say Her Name. So why did she ignore the use of Indigenous women activists who use "say her name?" Because she's a clout chasing terminally online weirdo who understands that shitting on Indigenous women trying to stop themselves from getting kidnapped and killed would be bad for her online brand.
For some reason though throwing a murdered trans femme child under the bus for clout isn't bad for her online brand?
Not to her target audience of idpol radlibs weirdos.
The brand is not about being right, it's about being self-righteous
And rest in power is still said for people who are murder by the state for reasons other than being a revolutionary. George Floyd wasn't a revolutionary leader, he was just a guy trying to exist as a black man in amerikkka. But even that was enough for police to murder him.
Anything that sounds strong and stirring and cool is going to be appropriated because it is strong and stirring and cool. Then overuse and trivialization waters the terminology down until it comes across as trite and saccharine.
But even past that, when all you've got on the internet are a bunch of language cops and fed-jacketers, what the fuck do we even care how language is being used? If you reserve certain phrases as terms of respect for black revolutionaries, but there is no longer a black revolution within which to celebrate martyrs to the cause, why should anyone care?
Appropriation can be a gateway to radicalization when you begin to associate your own immediate peers with figures of revolutionary struggle. But if there's nobody left to emulate except the terminally online and the grifters... You can't just keep going back to the Malcolm X and Fred Hampton well forever.