serenebabe
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thread 1/5
Once an Indigenous person asked me to talk to a (high twitter follower count) friend about her use of “native” in her profile. My friend shrugged off my mention of it, saying Native people aren’t all bothered by it’s use.
03:13 PM - Oct 21, 2023
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serenebabe
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thread 2/5
I think about this often when I see people using the term (to mean “originally from”) bc if you knew even *some* Native/Indigenous people found loose use of the term harmful, wouldn’t you stop using it that way?
03:15 PM - Oct 21, 2023
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serenebabe
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thread 3/5
Another aspect to the conversation is the fact that I am a white woman, and my friend is Black. So in some ways, due to the power dynamics, my opinion probably carried less weight, it was easier for her to dismiss.
03:16 PM - Oct 21, 2023
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serenebabe
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thread 4/5
And it’s true, if she wasn’t a friend that I’ve known for 15 years off-line (godmother to one of my daughters) I wouldn’t’ve said anything as a white woman to a Black woman. It was a strange place to be in, with someone asking me if I would mind approaching her about it.
03:17 PM - Oct 21, 2023
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serenebabe
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thread 5/5
Is still stings, though, to realize that my friend isn’t moved by the fact that some Native/Indigenous people find use of the word (outside the context of Native people) harmful.
03:19 PM - Oct 21, 2023
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