dmj618 (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dmj618) wrote,@ 2009-03-24 01:41:00 |
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Bringing the power of the state to bear on a trans woman of color
Bilerico Project is making me want to rip my hair out with the transphobia here: READ THIS: This is NOT acceptable on Bilerico Project.
Many privileged people will not see a problem with this post, but I do. And I'm not trans, I know this because I am a woman of color. I know that the state will believe a white person over me, and that the threatening to call the police on me by a white person could very well result in beating, rape, and even death. I do not expect the police or justice system to treat me fairly.
Let's put it this way, if two cis, heterosexual, white, able bodied, middle class, typical men get into an argument and one says he's going to call the cops because the other said some mean and nasty things, the other would laugh it off. The police are there to protect these normative people, not harass them or arrest them for no reason. The justice system works the way it should and the way it is expected for these people. The most likely scenario, is that the police will break it up and tell the parties to go home. But the further you get into the margins the more likely the state and it's systems are there to keep a watchful eye on you and take you out if you cause trouble.
Another scenario, a teen boy is naked, afraid, and bleeding on the street. He is incoherent but it's obvious that something bad has happened to him. He is found by two people who call 911 for medical assistance and the police. The boy's attacker shows up at the scene just as the police are arriving and tries to explain the situation as a simple lovers spat. You would think that the attacker would not get away with this, that at the very least the situation is so bizarre that it bears some investigation, you would be wrong. You would be wrong because the attacker and the police are white, the victim is Asian, and the Samaritans who tried to help are black women. If you don't know what I am talking about, then you don't know that blonde haired, blue eyed, Jeffrey Dahmer could have been caught before he killed several more victims, because one of his victims got away and was promptly handed back to him by the Milwaukee Police Department to be butchered.
Every person of color knows these kinds of stories and have stories of their own to tell. We know the police will not protect us when we need them, and we know they have no problem railroading us if a white person calls. The threat of state violence is a very real one, is a very common one, is not some abstract issue, or so unlikely as to be laughable.
I've put this in terms of race because this is what I know, but ask any trans person if the police and justice systems are on their side and you will also get a resounding, "NO!" Trans people are an extremely small part of the population, but every week there is another trans person beaten, raped, killed, jailed for the weakest of reasons, denied the help they need, all by the state. I repeat, the threat of state violence is a very real one, is a very common one, is not some abstract issue, or so unlikely as to be laughable.
So how do you think a trans woman of color, yes a woman who is both of color and trans, will take a statement that police will be called and that Bilerico will cooperate in identifying and prosecuting this trans woman of color?
What is so unlikely as to be laughable? Someone carrying through with hyperbolic statements on the internet. Half the people on the internet would be in jail or prison right now if saying things like DIAF (die in a fire) is a credible threat. It isn't. Saying things in anger is common, carrying them out is uncommon. Only a very privileged person could think there is an equivalence, it's not there.
Shorter Bilerico: To trans women of color: say something in anger and we'll make sure you pay dearly.
Bilerico Project is making me want to rip my hair out with the transphobia here: READ THIS: This is NOT acceptable on Bilerico Project.
Many privileged people will not see a problem with this post, but I do. And I'm not trans, I know this because I am a woman of color. I know that the state will believe a white person over me, and that the threatening to call the police on me by a white person could very well result in beating, rape, and even death. I do not expect the police or justice system to treat me fairly.
Let's put it this way, if two cis, heterosexual, white, able bodied, middle class, typical men get into an argument and one says he's going to call the cops because the other said some mean and nasty things, the other would laugh it off. The police are there to protect these normative people, not harass them or arrest them for no reason. The justice system works the way it should and the way it is expected for these people. The most likely scenario, is that the police will break it up and tell the parties to go home. But the further you get into the margins the more likely the state and it's systems are there to keep a watchful eye on you and take you out if you cause trouble.
Another scenario, a teen boy is naked, afraid, and bleeding on the street. He is incoherent but it's obvious that something bad has happened to him. He is found by two people who call 911 for medical assistance and the police. The boy's attacker shows up at the scene just as the police are arriving and tries to explain the situation as a simple lovers spat. You would think that the attacker would not get away with this, that at the very least the situation is so bizarre that it bears some investigation, you would be wrong. You would be wrong because the attacker and the police are white, the victim is Asian, and the Samaritans who tried to help are black women. If you don't know what I am talking about, then you don't know that blonde haired, blue eyed, Jeffrey Dahmer could have been caught before he killed several more victims, because one of his victims got away and was promptly handed back to him by the Milwaukee Police Department to be butchered.
Every person of color knows these kinds of stories and have stories of their own to tell. We know the police will not protect us when we need them, and we know they have no problem railroading us if a white person calls. The threat of state violence is a very real one, is a very common one, is not some abstract issue, or so unlikely as to be laughable.
I've put this in terms of race because this is what I know, but ask any trans person if the police and justice systems are on their side and you will also get a resounding, "NO!" Trans people are an extremely small part of the population, but every week there is another trans person beaten, raped, killed, jailed for the weakest of reasons, denied the help they need, all by the state. I repeat, the threat of state violence is a very real one, is a very common one, is not some abstract issue, or so unlikely as to be laughable.
So how do you think a trans woman of color, yes a woman who is both of color and trans, will take a statement that police will be called and that Bilerico will cooperate in identifying and prosecuting this trans woman of color?
What is so unlikely as to be laughable? Someone carrying through with hyperbolic statements on the internet. Half the people on the internet would be in jail or prison right now if saying things like DIAF (die in a fire) is a credible threat. It isn't. Saying things in anger is common, carrying them out is uncommon. Only a very privileged person could think there is an equivalence, it's not there.
Shorter Bilerico: To trans women of color: say something in anger and we'll make sure you pay dearly.
