Leigh Anne Tuohy, Racism, and the White Saviour Complex

[Recursion]

Could also be titled, "White people: there are less important things right now than making sure you are not personally a racist"

http://bellejar.ca/2014/12/15/leigh-anne-tuohy-racism-and-the-white-saviour-complex/

“We see what we want! It’s the gospel truth! These two were literally huddled over in a corner table nose to nose and the person with me said “I bet they are up to no good” well you know me… I walked over, told them to scoot over. After 10 seconds of dead silence I said so whats happening at this table? I get nothing.. I then explained it was my store and they should spill it… They showed me their phones and they were texting friends trying to scrape up $3.00 each for the high school basketball game! Well they left with smiles, money for popcorn and bus fare. We have to STOP judging people and assuming and pigeon holing people! Don’t judge a book by its cover or however you’d like to express the sentiment! Accept others and stoping seeing what you want to see!!!“

The comments on both posts are full of people praising her – telling her how awesome she is, how open-minded, how kind. Reading these responses is completely baffling – like, did these people and I all read the same words?

...

Leigh Anne Tuohy profiled two Black kids, invaded their privacy and interrogated them, but somehow people are behaving as if this is some kind of wonderful social justice moment. No. Not even a little. This is some fucked up racial profiling combined with white saviourism, and it is racist as hell. Assuming that those kids were doing something bad was racist. Assuming that she could take up space at their table was racist. Insisting that they talk to her was disrespectful and racist. Wanting evidence that they weren’t up to no good was racist. Treating those boys as props to make her look good and then posting this picture publicly (and honestly, I wonder if the boys consented to that) is incredibly racist.

...

Black people aren’t things. They don’t exist just so that white people can make a point about themselves. These are two real kids who not only had to endure this woman’s microaggressions but have now had their image splashed all over social media – the Facebook picture alone has 150,000 likes and over 12,000 shares. Step away for a hot second from this white woman’s narrative, and think about how those teenagers must feel – having their privacy invaded, having assumptions made about them based on their race, and now having a white woman use their images to get praise for herself.

[tblue37]

3. Recursion is not a member of "you in the right" or of the GOP--at least not as far as

I can tell by anything have seen in any of his posts! Why do you assume he is?

[applegrove]

4. I don‘t assume anything but the meme is

pure GOP. I can see people getting tired of a topic. And maybe that is in play. But I‘m going to defend anyone who interconnects with mankind.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. We're damned if we do, we're damned if we don't.

Or some are too heavily invested in damning others to boost their own self-righteousness.

[kcr]

18. There are better ways to connect with humanity

I enjoy being able to go out in public without the owners and other people checking up on me to see if I'm up to no good. That never happens to me. So, I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon that says she did a good thing. She should have told her friend she was wrong and left those boys alone.

[applegrove]

20. Don't you remember being a kid? Adults were always checking up on us. In stores,

eating French fries at Ogilvies, etc. Kids are kids and they act like they are misbehaving when they are young teens out without an adult. All sorts of hijinks take place. Laughing and grabing, making fun of and teasing. I had friends over one time and all my friends and I were sitting in a rounded bench in my kitchen. Someone stole the scarf off my head. They passed it around and some genius hid it in the toaster...the automatic toaster. Which then went on. Starting a fire. That singed the map on the wall above it. Fortunately the very affable aunt jean was there who put the fire out and cut the singed edge of the map off and did not tell my parents. Bet you she wished she had wandered in as me and my friends were getting rockus and before the comedy of errors happened.

[kcr]

21. Yes. And I wasn't harassed in this manner.

And neither were my friends. This never happened to us.

[Warpy]

32. I was.

Then again I was a Teenager from Hell and we usually were up to no good.

[Luminous Animal]

31. See post #23. The kids are less than pleased.

[MrScorpio]

2. Amen! nt

[Recursion]

8. Persons of colors are not props

Can somebody more social media savvy than me get us a hashtag for that?

[LittleBlue]

5. Does intent really matter?

I would like every critic to list what they've done for a black child in need.

It's much, much harder to actually put yourself out there, risk something personally, to help someone else. It's easy as hell to sit behind a keyboard and username to criticize. Older black kids have a much more difficult time getting adopted. Jimmy Graham got stuck in a horror foster home where he was beaten regularly by older kids. Go read the interviews he gives about the experience.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11426641

Even if someone who adopts a black child only has the goal of feeling better about herself, then the world has only lost one woman's altruism. Which isn't really a big deal when compared to the misery those kids feel every day. If you've got a problem with that, then show them how it's done by adopting an unwanted child.

[Feral Child]

6. Apparently some posters aren't getting the message.

I am.

These kids were profiled. They were bullied and ordered to divulge their private conversation because a white person felt they had the right to interrogate them. Because they were black. And, of course, they gave in to her meddling dominance. Because they were black. Subservient to the inherent power of the White Person.

The twist at the end tries to turn this story into some kind of "white man's burden" cautionary tale. After interrogating them and invading their privacy they were rewarded with bus fare and popcorn money. It's a feel-good "soft" racist story where the white woman is rewarded for her "charity". This is some "Chicken Soup for the Soul" bullshit. I do not believe that this actually happened. I think this woman made up this story to teach and preach "tolerance".

And to prove how pure her own soul is.



Anybody that buys into this ridiculous story is exposing their own fantasy desire for the imaginary world of the Perfect 1950's, when good-hearted white-folk took care of the little black children, and their pure white charity changed their world and saved them from a life of crime.


It's as formulaic as any filler short-story straight out of Readers Digest. Pure crap. Pure racist crap.

And that's the Gospel Truth!

[Bandit]

11. Is it possible that the profiling was done by a Store owner against two teen-agers

Maybe color doesn't have to be in play at all. Teen-agers are profiled as well as people of color. Teen-agers are quite well known for getting into stuff. The Store Owner was concerned for her property, the store. Or maybe it was simply because they were black but I personally don't know..

[Feral Child]

12. Or maybe she made the whole story up.

That's where I'd place my money. This story reeks of pious make-believe.

Teenagers haven't been impressed by nosy self-important adults for a very long time. They know they have rights and I just don't believe they'd show some shop-keeper their cell-phones.

It's make believe with a happy, feel-good message; hence, total bullshit.

And that's Gospel.

[el_bryanto]

14. Yep - everybody's an asshole - either they are an open asshole or a lying asshole. nt

[Feral Child]

16. C'mon, e_b.

Just because I'm not fooled by badly written formulaic fiction doesn't mean I'm a complete cynic.

OK, I am a complete cynic, but that doesn't make me wrong about this trite tripe.


I've never been quite sure of what you're peddling, but you needn't bother pushing this story. It only fools fools, and they're getting dewy-eyed over the nice white-lady already.

[yeoman6987]

27. Doesn't she have a trend of doing incredibly good deeds?

Seriously, isn't she the woman from "The Blind Side?" If she is, she is a treasure who deserves all those "likes" and then some.

[Beaverhausen]

28. Yes I agree with you

I'm not getting why some here think she is racist.

[GGJohn]

33. Yes she is.

She and her family took in Michael Orr without any reservations, gave him a home, an education and a chance at a football career.

[Gemini Cat]

13. Thanks, you get it.

[Feral Child]

15. Thanks for the prop!

I seem to have ruined Christmas for some folks.

[bravenak]

26. Nice break down.

That's how I saw it. Reminded me of the scene in the Color Purple where Ms. Millie makes admiration over Ms. Sofia's children, how clean they are and such. Then she asks Sofia to be her maid to show how much she 'cares' for the colored. Bunch of crap!! If it had been me, I'd have clowned that Lady till she felt embarrassed. Trying to make it seem like people are charity cases.

[Feral Child]

34. Trying to explain that reality to people

is exhausting. Just look at the comments I've gotten. All it really takes is stepping away from your own perspective and trying to see it from another's POV. How fucking hard can it be?

I can't imagine being that self-absorbed.

But some of these people are eating up this pablum like it's prime rib. Of course this is fiction! What astounds me is that people want so desperately for it to be real.

I have to say, bravenak: Thank "God" that I wasn't born black and wasn't born a woman. I can't imagine how much strength it takes to endure the vile shit you have to put up with.

[Nye Bevan]

7. I find this ego-boosting "I did something nice, look how awesome I am" stuff quite irritating.

This kind of thing also crops up fairly regularly here on DU. It's almost like the person isn't so much doing it to be nice as to post about it online and bask in the inevitable praise and compliments.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

9. How dare she learn to stop judging people! She should have kept on profiling!

I guess anyone who isn't born perfect and stays perfect is to be cursed forever. It must be nice to be so absolutely flawless and good.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. OMG

And there are people even here defending this asinine, racist behavior?

I'm completely mystified!

Leigh Anne tells them that this is her store and they need to “spill.” Again, these kids have done nothing except be in public and be Black.

[kcr]

19. Well, as long as they're teaching their racist friend a lesson

Not only is it then acceptable to harass and racially profile under those circumstances, but it's downright warm and fuzzy. It becomes an inspiring, Hallmark moment.

[kwassa]

22. Yeah, Tuohy, spread your unwanted intrusion all over Facebook. With pictures.

Real classy.

I would be pretty pissed if I were them.

[kwassa]

23. Here is one of the black teen's version of the events:

http://bellejar.ca/

see the Dec. 19 update on this blog.

Person One aka Teen Leigh Anne Tuohy approached at KFC:

Yeah people don’t know what really happened because I actually had money I have a job and have had one for over a year I was gonna pay for my brother the other guy in the picture but he was insisting on waiting on his uncle but his phone was dying so we were charging it which is the reason we were in KFC in the first place.and the game was only a 3 min walk up the street I don’t see why she said bus fare that kinda ticked me off a little but the way she worded it is making us sound less fortunate and that isn’t the case at all & when she came over to us she never mentioned her initial reason was because of her friends comment im just now finding that out

Person Two:

May I ask how she asked for the photo?

Person One:

Yeah she never actually asked for it as she was handing us the money she was like “hey you know what I think this would be a great picture” and everyone with her was yeah totally so we just kinda went along with the situation like sure why not your Michael Oher’s mom but the whole time I was thinking you know why’d she come up to us in the first place I was still clueless up until she posted the picture on social media and stated “the person with me said I bet they’re up to no good.”

[BronxBoy]

24. Interesting......

Our young men can't catch a break.....She's a social media darling and they're the kids she "saved"

[kwassa]

25. Talk about patronizing.

[DawgHouse]

29. So, it's a made up story and a photo op. nt

[Luminous Animal]

30. Oh man! Thanks for the post.