CNN recently wrote a very unbalanced piece titled, “These Are Your White Allies,” in which the media organization touts a social media watchdog group created to “to relieve people of color from the emotional labor of engaging with a person's racist or racially insensitive thoughts.”
The name of this so-called social media watchdog group is “White Nonsense Roundup,” which sounds pretty racist if you ask me. Could you imagine the fire and brimstone that would result from a social media watchdog group calling themselves “Black Nonsense Roundup?”
CNN claims that the group’s goal is to educate and engage in a “firm but compassionate fashion.”
Here is a statement from the White Nonsense Roundup’s website:
White Nonsense Roundup (WNR) was created by white people, for white people, to address our inherently racist society. We believe it is our responsibility to call out white friends, relatives, contacts, speakers, and authors who are contributing to structural racism and harming our friends of color. We are a resource for anti-racist images, links, videos, artwork, essays, and voices. These can be used by anyone for a DIY white nonsense roundup, or by the WNR team to support people of color upon their request.
WNR has about 100 white volunteers, all dedicated to making sure white people get their comeuppance for saying things such as “All Lives Matter,” or daring to say that the idea of white privilege is simply an idea and not a proven fact.
“I think, as white people, we are taught that intentions are all that matters,” said the groups co-founder Terri Kempton. "We think that if our hearts are in the right places and we consciously doubt racism, we're good to go. So that was a light-bulb moment to me, where I didn't think intentions are enough.”
CNN and the organization obviously don’t see their double standard, especially with statements like, “At the very least, we want to be white people on the record, standing up against racism.”
It seems like some black people are also unaware. Some Facebook users, such as Chenoa Alamu, view the organization as a God-send. Alamu, a black woman stated, “They do a great job. I've even had people ask, 'Can they come to my job?'"