Twitter is how so many of us track the hot topic of the day and learn what people may be saying about, well, anything. Today many folks are talking about some of the racist reactions across the Twitter-sphere following Saturday night's highly anticipated boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
One tweeter predicted a division was going to take place.
The website Latino Rebels expressed disappointment at the display of racist comments on people's Twitter feeds regarding the match-up of the undefeated African-American Mayweather and the young, red-headed Mexican star deemed "Canelo" or cinnamon, in his country for his ginger complexion.
Then as people began re-tweeting and replying to Latino Rebels' blog post, it became evident that some people feel prejudice between Blacks and Latinos is a very legitimate, but taboo subject.
And a tweet by @ChelaBK pointed out that minorities targeting one another is a repeating historical theme that only leads to prolonging oppression. "We can never challenge existing power structure if we're too busy fighting each other," she wrote. "They don't see that."
People also took the opportunity to joke about Canelo being a Mexican with red hair and white skin.
Tweeter @mnsrrtsnchz responded to this thread, saying "Not all Mexicans are dark-skinned, don't be ignorant."
Before the fight NPR's blog Code Switch wrote about the racial and economic connotations of boxing, discussing how the sport has exploited primarily Black and Latino athletes from poor backgrounds. The blog also explored how the fight was a major event for Black and Latino fans but that the mainstream media was generally ignoring what a big deal it was for these populations.
Tweeters have also been talking about reaction to the first Indian-American to win the Miss America pagent. Jezebel compiled their own running tally of the hatefulness, showing people calling the winner, Nina Davuluri, a Muslim or saying she didn't deserve the award because she is a "foreigner."
But Davuluri has had to apologize for accusations of discrimination against the outgoing Miss America.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Twitter has made it easy to read what's on people's minds. Sometimes we'd rather not know. However as many people have been bringing up in the Twitter world today, it can also invoke discussion about subjects that are often avoided in our day-to-day lives.
