Another day another overtly racist viral video. On Saturday, two Georgia teens were reportedly expelled for an overtly racist video posted onto Tik Tok. An essential component to this performative punishment is that it does not exist because of an American belief that racism is wrong. Rather, this punishment exists because of hegemonic pride. 

This hegemonic pride thrives on white, or non-black persons of color, appearing to earn all that the global hegemony grants them access. It thrives on the belief that “privilege” is just a word  and not the essence of  white (and model minority)
“achievement.”

To be clear, I do not contend that white and non-blacks possess an identical functionality; I do, however,  wish to state that white hegemony enables both factions to benefit at the  expense of the black social and systemic de-basement. 

Whites employs a deflective praxis illuminated in the overtly racist southern teens with the general interaction they have with the Trump administration. Though Trump certainly has a number of overt enthusiasts, many whites who share his sentiments privately, maintain a notable social distance from his beliefs and behaviors. However, what appears to reprimand racism is merely an attempt for whites to veil the truth. 

Though the white media appears to occupy a position as ally to the oppressed, their positionality flaunts the fluidity afforded to their status as oppressor.

See, it isn’t that whites have an issue with racism. They don’t. The issue is a systemic advantage being the cause of what they need an oppressed faction to believe is innate superiority. It’s like they’re winning a game because of a cheat code, but they need the others plays to believe in a talent that does not and has not ever existed. 

Therefore, these public reprimands exists to suggest an evolution from past decorated with overt racism. This public performance is easily undermined by the reality that blacks remain the casualties of anti-blackness and remain seldom recipients of any systemic justices.  The lack of justice extends to this recent scenario. The expelled teens or any white or non-black  suspended from social media platforms, will not reap long-term consequences for their actions. These consequences are merely performative, functioning to symbolize behavior that can never be truly reprimanded by a system that enables and encourages its existence.  

Moreover, public castigation exists because the assaults reveal what must be kept secret. Thus, the public censure functions to ensure longevity to white supremacy as a stealth praxis. 

Additionally, by appearing to reprimand racism, whites also create a platform to reprimand pro-blackness. Specifically, if we as a society relegate racism to words and hurt feelings, public censure becomes easily applicable to blacks who publicly demonstrate any esteem in their race. There have been countless of examples of this already, when black social media users respond to racially insensitive posts from white users and face cyber-lynching. Thus, these public castigations imbue false equivalences that allow a re-manifestation of racism under the guise of a racial equity never attempted or acquired. 

Furthermore, though the media projects social media under the Trump administration as depicting fires ignited under failed leadership, the racially astute understand that contemporary manifestations betray news ways to wield what has never dissapated. Additionally, contemporary racism delineates a transition to make its praxis appear more tangible, prepping the stage for a public extinguishing of the physical while metaphysical forces grow stronger in this misdirection. 

In conclusion, failure to conceptualize hegemonic pride precedes falling for a veiled hegemonic evil.