Dehai News

Is “Negro” Banned on Twitter?

Apparently if you call a black person a “negro” on Twitter it
constitutes hate speech and is banned. I know this because I did this.
I called Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party a “negro” for
supporting Joe Biden only to get suspended by Twitter for hate speech
.

I didn’t think it would be a problem calling Comrade Carl a “negro”
having heard black CNN Anchor Don Lemon calling black leaders that
supported Trump “negro” on Prime Time at least half a dozen times some
weeks earlier. But then the head of public relations for Twitter left
the company to join Bidens “transition team” so I guess criticizing
black supporters of Trump is not hate speech. But a particularly
poignant word directed against a black supporter of Biden demands
immediate banishment.

The reason I called Comrade Carl Dix (what we called him when I was a
member of the Revolutionary Communist Party) a “negro” was because he
had abandoned the armed struggle for electoral politics. SInce its
founding in 1975 (which I attended) the RCP has always portrayed
electoral politics in the USA as a trap for the masses of people, key
in convincing or at least pacifying the American people under the
rhubric of electoral democracy and thereby controlling them. “You
voted for them so shutup”…or…”you didn’t vote so you can’t complain”.

No matter our differences on almost everything else, Comrade Carl and
I stood shoulder to shoulder on the question of the role electoral
politics plays in society for half a century or more. I had never even
registered to vote in the USA during the over 50 years I lived there.

So when the RCP’s “Chairman”, Guru Bob Avakian announced to his cult
that not only was it okay but actually to be encouraged that party
cadre and supporters vote for Joe Biden I was stunned. And more than a
little betrayed to be honest.

So I fired off a series of heartfelt tweets detailing just what a
betrayal Comrade Carl had committed especially since Mr. Dix was the
token black man on the RCP Central Committee…damn, negro.

For many, many years I had sent tweets to Mr. Dix with no response but
suprise, suprise, I must have struck a nerve. Comrade Carl responded
telling me they hadn’t “abandoned the armed struggle”, maybe this
voting was a temporary thing? and that “you wouldnt know a
revolutionary if they bit you on the ass…”.

This got me more fired up and I pointed out to him that I have been
married for over 20 years to an Eritrean independence fighter, 14 year
veteran, someone who had more armed struggle under her belt than the
entire RCP combined,  and again called him a “negro”. That one must
have really hurt and I think Comrade Carl must have complained to the
censors at Twitter for I was immediately suspended,.

So be careful now, calling a supporter of Joe Biden a “negro” is hate
speech on Twitter and they WILL kick you off for doing so. Joe Biden
said it best, “you are not black if you dont vote for me”? Go figure…

Thomas C. Mountain is a historian and educator living and reporting
from Eritrea since 2006. Contact him at thomascmountain at g mail dot
com