Melina Abdullah, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, has been getting raked over the coals for speaking her mind about the whiteness of Taylor Swift fans.
Abdullah, who works as a professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State University, started going off on X/Twitter on February 11—the day of the Super Bowl. “Why do I feel like it’s slightly racist to be a Taylor Swift fan?” Abdullah wrote.
She then clarified: “I said FEEL, not think. Kind of like that feeling I get when there are too many American Flags.”
After Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, helped bring his team (the Kansas City Chiefs) to victory, Abdullah then commented: “Why do I feel like this was some right-wing, white-supremacist conspiracy?!?!”
Of course, it didn’t take much time for Swift fans—or white people in general—to respond to Abdullah’s words. Still, she had no problem defending herself. “Folks think they’re attacking me by asking why I think everything is racist…I’m not offended,’” she said. “Virtually everything is racist.”
In response to one commenter, the activist clarified: “And I’ve also decided to work with all my might and in a community of committed people to upend racism and oppression.”
Then on February 23, Abdullah shared a disturbing voice message she received from one online user after outlets like Fox News shared her tweets. “Here’s the thing… When fake ass journalists from right-wing outlets turn tweets into news, they spur actual violent responses from their idiotic white-delusionist followers.”
The message was from an enraged man, identified by the moniker Ethan George, who called viciously insults Abdullah and said he hopes she dies. Whether you agree with the professor’s take or not, the fact is that when a Black woman addresses racism or white supremacist values they often become a target of violence.
