Counter Argument: Allies Need Perspective
- Radical Queer Scholar
- Jun 23, 2018
- 4 min read
After reading this article today, I am furious and I am hurt.
Disclaimer: I am a white persons and cannot claim to speak for POC, nor do I claim to be an authority of them or any related topics.
The protest at the Edmonton Pride Parade was a final end result and last resort decision. The communities of QPOC (queer people of color) practice leadership, they did and do work from humility, they did and do practice patience, they were and are willing to engage in conversation, and they do have a genuine regard for the community. Gods damn it, they tried everything they could. They tried working with the EPS (Edmonton Police Service) liaison, they tried working with the Edmonton Pride Festival Society - and they were not heard.
Time and time again, the QPOC communities are silenced, ignored, undermined, invalidated, and undervalued. Do people, especially those in the LGBT/Queer communities, honestly believe that QPOC did not try? Have not been trying? Are we seriously telling them they are choosing to be in perpetual victimhood? I am absolutely appalled at the sheer ignorance and lack of nuance this article is perpetuating. I hardly know where to begin.
There are many activist groups and grassroots communities by and for QPOC that are not acknowledged, under-supported, under-supplied, and even ignored. For example, Shades of Colour works with practically no resources year round to provide safe(r) spaces for QPOC and to educate allies. Indigenous and Muslim communities within the queer community have been working hard for years now, trying to create dialogue, trying to work together, trying to be heard.
And so, finally, we came to a breaking point, where QPOC are burnt out, hurt, and rightfully angry. And they protested. And we are going to shame them? Tell them they are the ones undoing work? They are the ones doing harm?
No. I will not have it.
QPOC are not safe. They have never been safe. EPS is not a reliable nor trustworthy institution for them. It is true that EPS has made progress in some regards for the queer community, primarily for cis white gays. And I acknowledge that history, I acknowledge the hard work those people have done. Yes, they have reasons to celebrate.
But we have so much more work to do. How can we celebrate Pride for all when there isn't safety or basic human rights for all? How can we celebrate Pride, and allow EPS to have a float, when EPS still disproportionately harms QPOC and trans peoples? We have to acknowledge the varying axis of oppression here, the nuance, and the experiences of those peoples.
It is good that cis white gays can celebrate what they have, sure they earned it - but they didn't earn it without usage of their inherent privilege and without perpetuating implicit oppression. It takes active work and time to acknowledge these privileges, the biased and problematic ideologies and behaviors, to unpack and unlearn them.
Briefly:
White people inherently benefit from white supremacy and implicitly perpetuate the harm of it, such as racism. Implicit meaning they may not intentionally do so. But impact is greater than intent, and white people are socialized to do so. We are a part of that system and those institutions that inflict harm unto POC.
Cis people inherently benefit from their oppressor class of cis - in that cis people are treated as the standard, what is "normal", the "default", etc. And they implicitly perpetuate the harm of it, such as cissexism, cisnormativity, and bioessentialism. Again, they may not intend to do it, but that is the impact. And again, cis people are socialized into such.
Men inherently benefit from the patriarchy and implicitly perpetuate the harm of it, such as sexism and misogyny.
And it has been recognized that there is a disproportionate representation of cis white gays depicted at Pride, and in representations of the media. So the space for QPOC hasn't exactly been created for them. They've had to work hard to get their own spaces and representation. And when they do, they are told they are being too divisive or rude, that they should just be happy or settle with what progress has been made in the queer community - even though said progress has not benefited them and sometimes even harms them.
The article suggests that some of the language used by QPOC, and other activists groups, are alienating others. A claim that I find personally laughable in comparison to the real hurt and oppression QPOC experience.
QPOC say "shut up and listen" because they are not being heard, because their experiences are being ignored or belittled, because white people pull the focus onto ourselves, because white people do not want to be uncomfortable with the hurt QPOC experience.
QPOC say "I am not doing emotional labor" because it is not the job or obligation of every single POC to educate white people about their privilege and perpetuating of oppression, because POC have been doing an extensive amount of emotional labor for years now (thanklessly, at that), because white people need to do some of the work on their own.
QPOC say "check your privilege" because white people have the privilege of not experiencing the hurt and oppressions that POC do, white people do not have the awareness or nuance of situations that directly impact POC as it does not effect us the same way.
QPOC say "sit the fuck down" because white people's opinions are not always needed and we do not have the authority to speak for POC, us white people need to stay in our lane.
I could keep going on about all of this, about just how angry the article has made me - I can't even how QPOC feel, how the POC protesters and protest leaders feel. This I do know: Vue Weekly's article belittles the protestors, the QPOC there, and the very real cause. It is silencing and is dismissive. Shame on them and shame on the author.
Side note: this was longer than I had anticipated, and I hope dearly that I made a remote amount of sense. If I have misspoke or stepped out of my lane anywhere here, please feel free to contact me!
Resources
(This section may be updated regularly.)
Police Violence to POC
http://www.progressalberta.ca/the_proof
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-march-23-2018-1.4589415/police-shootings-of-unarmed-black-men-are-a-canadian-problem-too-says-author-1.4589507
Violence to POC
https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurenstrapagiel/canada-is-no-better-on-police-violence-against-black-people?utm_term=.ilGp89Y6X#.tbEro4ZN0
https://thetyee.ca/News/2018/03/07/Canada-Black-Lives-Matter/
Violence to Indigenous Peoples
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/un-special-rapporteur-violence-against-women-1.4637613
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/safety-of-first-nations-youth-focus-of-emergency-meeting-in-thunder-bay-ont
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/report-submitted-to-ottawa-highlights-police-abuse-against-indigenous-women/article35355384/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/deadly-force-manitoba-indigenous-1.4607383
Violence to Trans Peoples
https://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/violence/strategy-strategie/gbv-vfs-en.html?wbdisable=true
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/11/19/transgender-canadians-violence-transgender-day-of-remembrance_a_23282367/
https://policyfix.ca/2017/01/30/violence-against-trans-people-in-canada-a-primer/
http://www.canadalandshow.com/how-canadian-media-fails-transgender-people/
On White Gay Men
https://www.them.us/story/white-gay-men-are-hindering-our-progress
https://www.them.us/story/dear-white-gay-men-its-time-to-celebrate-blackness
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/queering-our-cult-why-gay-men-need-to-shake-off-misogyny_us_59efccd2e4b04809c050120a
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