Yesterday (1/10/2020), a couple of days after the president’s Twitter account was locked, I saw several posts, and opinion pieces, claiming that when social media platforms suspend accounts, (aka PRIVATE companies enforcing their own acceptable-use policies) it’s like “The New Jim Crow.”
Well, gather around, children, let me tell you a story….
When a (small town, Deep South) high school friend’s mom was pregnant with him (circa 1964), she suffered severe internal bleeding and was refused treatment at the local hospital.
Because the hospital didn’t have “black blood. ”
They only survived because the father was a veteran and the mother was treated at the Orlando Naval Training Center’s hospital (20 miles) away.
THAT is Jim Crow.
My friend now has four degrees and is a tenured professor, and a department head at a university.
Though, when he was in the womb, he was left for dead because he wasn’t deserving of “white blood.”
In that same town, years earlier, a friend’s grandfather was told he would lose his license to operate his hotel if he rented a room to Jackie Robinson.
THAT is Jim Crow.
A few weeks later, the local police chief threatened to jail Robinson, essentially for the crime of “shortstopping while Black.”
THAT is Jim Crow.
Getting your Twitter account (temporarily or permanently) suspended is a nuisance.
It is NOT Jim Crow.
Jim Crow was a collection of racist-as-fuck LAWS in many states, that were largely ignored by the federal government for over a century.
They were not the POLICIES of PRIVATE organizations.
Being De-Twittered is equivalent to being banned from your favorite restaurant because you habitually violate the “No Shirt? No Shoes? No Service!” policy.
Pro tip: If you have a social media account blocked, or lose followers, it’s not recommended that you liken yourself to Rosa Parks.