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Leslie Jones' Twitter Mentions Are Sickening, Which Is Exactly Why We All Need to See Them

By Vivian Kane | Twitter | July 18, 2016 |

By Vivian Kane | Twitter | July 18, 2016 |



In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Idris Elba said that his being cast in The Dark Tower “is a sign of the times in terms of a colorless society.” Elba is the Gunslinger! Women are Ghostbusters! We’ve had a mixed race president in the White House for nearly eight years! We’re living in a post-racial, post-feminist, post-hate world, right?

Anyone who says that racism is over, or that accounts of internet harassment are exaggerated, lives in a bubble of their own making. And Leslie Jones is exposing that truth on Twitter.

When racists are able to hide their vileness behind a shield of anonymity, things get truly disgusting. And of course Leslie Jones or anyone else shouldn’t be subjected to that kind of harassment. (And don’t you dare pull any of that ‘Why doesn’t she just quit Twitter?’ bullshit. No one should be expected to flee the playground because no one’s checking the bullies.)

But then Jones changed her mind. In a perfect world, she wouldn’t have this hate spewed at her, but in our world, she at least isn’t going to let it go unnoticed.

You think this world is post-racial? Leslie Jones is retweeting the vilest (but certainly not even close to all) of the horrible things sent her way.

A warning: these retweets are horrible and upsetting. You are about to feel really, REALLY bad about humans as a general whole.

(I didn’t include the media in that one because it’s a weird, gross NFSW cartoon drawing. But yes, we should all be scared for our future.)

There are a few more. And infinitely more directed at her, and others on the internet that will never be shown, only ignored, internalized, deleted, and/or then denied by those who aren’t subjected to this kind of despicable hate. And it’s directed at Jones because she has the audacity to be black and female and hugely successful in a career based on her huge personality and refusal to hold that in. She takes up space, and these cretins can’t fucking stand it.

I hate to give them any attention at all, but share, report, or at the very least, don’t be eased into thinking that Jones’ experience is a lone one.

On the flip side: There is a positive takeaway: Leslie Jones has been flooded with supportive messages from fans all evening long.