Facebook Publication Date: 8/11/2020 11:08

Hey y’all, this is Laura! I have to say, in all absolute honesty, it’s actually a real relief to me, seeing all of you from the Christian Left here at Lace on Race. I see a lot of confusion in some comments. This really doesn’t surprise me. We’re in the middle of an ongoing story, but so many of the pages that would make it make sense have been torn out by the erasure TCL has been practicing. I do hear people saying the deletions are to remove trolls and stay on focus to their mission.

That’s… an understandable position… except… they continue to post about what’s happening. They have gone so far as to lie and mislead about what’s happening. And they are expending immense energy removing all of the traces that would help their followers connect the dots for themselves about what’s happening. Even long-time TCL followers are being blocked for raising concerns about what they’re seeing. I feel like that has got to hurt deeply. Seriously. I want to sit with you in that hurt. It’s not right. It means the world that you spoke up.

So… yes. We are thrilled to have you here, where we have preserved what they have erased. We absolutely and candidly invite members of TCL to fully examine the posts that began this action, the one TCL link y’all to. Please examine the action itself, the posts our members posted that were deleted, now shared on the action thread as screen shots. We welcome your interrogation of the issues under discussion with integrity.

Because “the issue” was not just the masks or the quote. That was AN issue, and an important one. When that issue was first raised, it was “the” issue. It could so easily have been addressed immediately. It was not addressed. It was utterly obliterated as a topic of discussion. Over and over again.

That is just not okay, y’all. In a history of white people appropriating from, exploiting, colonizing, and claiming as their own any aspect of Black culture they find agreeable, while at the same time erasing Black ownership, denying Black humanity, and silencing Black voices… This is really, really not okay.

But I get that you’re angry, based on TCL’s posts. Because the part they’re playing in that pattern of erasure is exactly what they’ve hidden from you BY that erasure. And that has been done deliberately. You may be angry with us at Lace on Race, but what we will NOT do is hide things from you, belittle you, bait you, or block you. We will not erase what you have come to say. You are welcome here. You are welcome to our whole story, because we are not ashamed of the position we have taken. From the beginning, starting with Lace’s original comment, what we have asked for is consideration of impact over intention, and for accountability for that impact. We are absolutely each of us accountable for our parts of the story, and everything has been done publicly to that end. You are welcome to examine it.

And you’re welcome to stay as long as you like. Please check out the community guidelines and the other links in the pinned post at the top of our page. You’ll learn what you need to know about us. Nothing is hidden. Nothing is sneered at. No harm is wiped off the slate without accountability and repair. That’s how we roll.

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