The S&*%show That was “After the Final Rose”

As soon as I heard Emmanuel Acho was chosen to host After the Final Rose, I knew it was going to be a shitshow. Why? Because Emmanuel Acho, host of the YouTube show Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, has made it quite clear he cares a lot about being accepted by white people and he believes the path to ending anti-Black racism is to discuss racism in a manner that is as least likely to offend white people as possible.

One minute into the special, Acho had already lost me. He referred to Rachel Kirkconnell’s appearance in photos from an Antebellum South-themed fraternity formal in which she was wearing a dress befitting an enslaver’s wife as “racially insensitive.” Later in the special, he states he’s been “very intentional” about calling the images “racially insensitive” because there was no malicious intent.

So let’s unpack that. Firstly, intent is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT when it comes to racist, sexist, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, ableist or any other kind of oppressive act. It’s the impact that matters, not the intent. Rachel’s attending of that party, on a plantation, and dressing in the manner she did to glorify the period of American history during which my ancestors were enslaved is incredibly racist. Full stop. Secondly, Emmanuel Acho would have no idea what Kirkconnell’s intent was because he does not know her. His mentioning of Rachel having no malicious intent is just another example of white people always being given the benefit of the doubt in a white supremacist…