Gay is NOT the new black
Let me preface this with.........................
That is such an easy comparison for a cis-gender white person to make (straight, gay, lesbian, bi, whathaveyou). white privilege implores taxonomy. rich white people love to place people and things in boxes and check and categorize people based on where they fall within those parameters (why do you think we even have a census?). when you label something you create the exclusionary consciousness of "you fit in here" or "you don't fit in here." "race" is a construct. hell, Nixon created the "latino" category. "sexuality" is a construct...yes, but race is a phenotype allowing us to segregate visually. what's more than the love for taxonomy is the love for comparison. if i'm able to make an observation, it seems that the "queer" community is comprised more so of people of color, trans, pansexuals, and people identifying in the "other" categories within the LGBT community. the LGBT rights movement isn't all encompassing when you place restrictive labels on what human beings are & create context and labels surrounding that. THAT is what creates these stereotypes. there's way too much intersectionality going on within people to typecast them into a blanket collective in the movement....which of & in itself proves my point that the LGBT movement differs immensely from the civil rights movement.
gay people love to talk about how they were barred from voting back then when black people had constitutional protections, but black people were discriminated against through poll taxes, litmus testing, and through Jim Crowe....so what voting rights did they have really? once society "found out" people were gay that they would commit hate crimes against that person? well, being black is a phenotypic trait; society doesn't "find out" you're black. There were lynch mobs where people would bring their children to witness the desecration of black bodies; I listened to Diane Nash give a speech talking about how black bodies piled up along the bottom of the Mississipi river and how you could not look at a white person in the eyes and would have to step off of the sidewalk if you were to cross paths with them. Gay people could look other white people in the eyes. Gay people had safe spaces like Greenwhich Village, and most of the pictures included in the gay rights revolution are of gays in cop cars. The police came to arrest them the night of the stonewall riots; they didn't firebomb the establishment & try to annihilate them. Black people didn't get arrested; we just got killed. Emmett Till never had the opportunity to have his privacy invaded through a booking process, because white people knew that black people were "less than" and could just be killed without consequence. even if you were gay, you still experienced white privilege. i'd much rather be thrown into a mental institution & have to endure being labeled sick & all those deplorable treatments than having the police stand by & watch, or sometimes even participate, in hate crimes against me. There weren't efforts to save & reform people from their blackness. I'm not trying to make this a pissing contest, but what I am trying to convey is that it's absolutely offensive to make statements comparing different oppressions because you cannot know what it feels like. you may be able to relate to an experience, but there isn't a basis for comparison or true empathy.
As a woman identifying as black, I wouldn't ever dare to think to compare what African-Americans went through during slavery to the oppressive conditions any other cultural group has experienced in enslavement. While yes, gays are fighting for civil rights and do experience their own struggle, their struggle is unique to them and them only; just as the struggle for civil rights for African Americans is personal and unique.
I love the gays.
I fucking love the gays. I will be the first to align myself with their plight and to advocate for their rights to be treated equally as human beings; I've totally reconciled with the fact that this belief solidifies in most people's minds an inevitable trip to Hedes. I even envision hell to be a harmonious blend between San Francisco Pride and the Las Vegas strip, and I'm rather okay with that, if not excited. I am fully ready to die on the cross for gay rights; however, this is NOT about THAT. This is about this:Human rights campaigns can use similar tactics, but are NOT comparable phenomenons.
That is such an easy comparison for a cis-gender white person to make (straight, gay, lesbian, bi, whathaveyou). white privilege implores taxonomy. rich white people love to place people and things in boxes and check and categorize people based on where they fall within those parameters (why do you think we even have a census?). when you label something you create the exclusionary consciousness of "you fit in here" or "you don't fit in here." "race" is a construct. hell, Nixon created the "latino" category. "sexuality" is a construct...yes, but race is a phenotype allowing us to segregate visually. what's more than the love for taxonomy is the love for comparison. if i'm able to make an observation, it seems that the "queer" community is comprised more so of people of color, trans, pansexuals, and people identifying in the "other" categories within the LGBT community. the LGBT rights movement isn't all encompassing when you place restrictive labels on what human beings are & create context and labels surrounding that. THAT is what creates these stereotypes. there's way too much intersectionality going on within people to typecast them into a blanket collective in the movement....which of & in itself proves my point that the LGBT movement differs immensely from the civil rights movement.
gay people love to talk about how they were barred from voting back then when black people had constitutional protections, but black people were discriminated against through poll taxes, litmus testing, and through Jim Crowe....so what voting rights did they have really? once society "found out" people were gay that they would commit hate crimes against that person? well, being black is a phenotypic trait; society doesn't "find out" you're black. There were lynch mobs where people would bring their children to witness the desecration of black bodies; I listened to Diane Nash give a speech talking about how black bodies piled up along the bottom of the Mississipi river and how you could not look at a white person in the eyes and would have to step off of the sidewalk if you were to cross paths with them. Gay people could look other white people in the eyes. Gay people had safe spaces like Greenwhich Village, and most of the pictures included in the gay rights revolution are of gays in cop cars. The police came to arrest them the night of the stonewall riots; they didn't firebomb the establishment & try to annihilate them. Black people didn't get arrested; we just got killed. Emmett Till never had the opportunity to have his privacy invaded through a booking process, because white people knew that black people were "less than" and could just be killed without consequence. even if you were gay, you still experienced white privilege. i'd much rather be thrown into a mental institution & have to endure being labeled sick & all those deplorable treatments than having the police stand by & watch, or sometimes even participate, in hate crimes against me. There weren't efforts to save & reform people from their blackness. I'm not trying to make this a pissing contest, but what I am trying to convey is that it's absolutely offensive to make statements comparing different oppressions because you cannot know what it feels like. you may be able to relate to an experience, but there isn't a basis for comparison or true empathy.
As a woman identifying as black, I wouldn't ever dare to think to compare what African-Americans went through during slavery to the oppressive conditions any other cultural group has experienced in enslavement. While yes, gays are fighting for civil rights and do experience their own struggle, their struggle is unique to them and them only; just as the struggle for civil rights for African Americans is personal and unique.
Gay is NOT the new black
Reviewed by Haley Jones
on
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Rating:
Reviewed by Haley Jones
on
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Rating:
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