When “Jokes” Become Genocide: The Dangerous Dehumanization in Laura Loomer’s Tweet

By Goddess Mia

So, Laura Loomer got on Twitter and dropped that gem — “alligator lives matter” with a side of 65 million meals guaranteed. And by meals, she meant Latino folks. Yeah, you read that right. This ain’t no funny tweet or some edgy joke. Nah, it’s straight-up hate wrapped in sarcasm, served cold for clicks.

Look, we get it — some folks think throwing shade and throwing people under the bus is how you get attention. But comparing a whole community to alligator snacks? That ain’t clever, it’s just nasty. It’s the kind of dehumanizing talk that’s been used way too long to justify all kinds of mess — from slavery to genocide. Remember how white folks in the South didn’t just enslave Black people; they also used violence and terror so extreme, sometimes even feeding folks to alligators. That history of cruelty? It’s still alive in these kinds of hateful tweets.

Let’s keep it 100: When you start joking about millions of people being food for reptiles, you’re not just playing around. You’re playing with fire, and that fire feeds the real hate out here. With all the anti-immigrant nonsense flying around and folks acting like humans don’t deserve basic dignity, Loomer’s tweet is like tossing gasoline on the flames.

Look, the numbers don’t lie — in 2023, the FBI said hate crimes jumped up to nearly 12,000 incidents. Yeah, almost 6,000 just based on race or ethnicity. Black folks caught the brunt, over half that mess aimed at them. And Latino communities? The hate’s creeping up there too, with anti-Latino attacks rising by almost 3%. Now, maybe some departments forgot to fill out the paperwork, or maybe folks ain’t trusting cops enough to report. So real talk? The problem’s probably even worse than these numbers say. But hey, let’s keep pretending it’s all just “online jokes” and not the kind of stuff that gets people hurt in the streets.

Social media platforms? They can’t just sit back and pretend this ain’t a problem. Letting hateful nonsense spread like wildfire is how real-world harm gets made. We all gotta call it out, because silence? That’s the same as saying it’s okay. And it ain’t.

So no, racism ain’t a joke. It ain’t satire. It ain’t edgy. It’s ugly, dangerous, and we see right through it — no matter how loud the “humor” tries to shout. Time to name it, shame it, and put folks on notice: this ain’t it.