It makes perfect sense for queer and trans people of color, along with
their community of friends and loved ones, to ask the organizers of the
pride parade to refrain from placing the police in the prominent role of
leading the parade. The pride movement was born out of a violent revolt,
led by trans women of color who fought back and said, "No More!" Who were
they fighting back against? The police officers who brutalized queer folks
everyday through harassment, beatings, rape, unjustified arrest, and
murder.
Maybe you don't know about this history. There's a reason for that. This
history, these stories, pride festivals in general, and officially
sanctioned public queer spaces have been whitewashed. The voices and
perspectives of radical queer people of color, the people who started this
movement, have been pushed out, erased, marginalized, and criminalized
while the voices and perspectives of white middle- and upper-class white
queer folks have been centered.
For example, take a look at the revisionist piece of trash "Stonewall" â a
2015 movie that tried to re-write history and elevate a white gay man as
the hero at the center of this story. For another example, take a look at
what just happened at a pride parade in Ohio. Queer people of color were
attacked by police, arrested, charged with a felony, for asking the crowd
to observe a moment of silence for Philando Castile. Some queer white folks
decided that they didn't like having their parade 'interrupted' by the
voices of queer black folks. And police officers were present, ready, and
willing to silence, dehumanize, and criminalize those black voices. At the
pride parade. (Whose parade is this?) And you think it's 'divisive' to
demote police officers from the central role of leading the parade.
It's as if white folks (queer or not) don't understand that queer people of
color don't have the luxury, the privilege, of turning off the racism while
celebrating and affirming their queerness. This is not a game. This is not
about political correctness. This is a matter of life and death for people
of color â not just an inconvenient 'interruption' to a parade on a sunny
summer Sunday afternoon. This is a living history. Police brutality did not
end after trans women of color led the fight for their lives at Stonewall.
Maybe from where you're standing, the demand to de-center police presence
at the pride parade looks like an over-reaction to, as you say, a few bad
seeds, a few bad apples. Maybe up until now, you've only been able to see
it as divisive. But for the people who come from the communities that gave
birth to the pride movement, the sight of rolling squad cars, with their
lights flashing, accompanied by clusters of officers in uniform â that
sight elicits a visceral, undeniable terror, rage, and sorrow deeper than
the Mariana Trench. And that's where your empathy should come in.
This cannot be reduced to a neat and tidy difference of opinion. Trans
women of color are still being murdered and brutalized by police. People of
color everyday, in this city, this state, this country, have to go about
the business of living â knowing that it's open season on them, on their
children, on their family, on their loved ones. Knowing that they could be
next at any moment. Can you even imagine what that feels like? For hundreds
of years? There is literally nothing standing in the way, nothing standing
in between their precious lives and a bullet from an officer who feels
afraid â nothing but the conscience, actions, and biases of that officer;
there is no structural, legal deterrent. The laws that govern policing make
it virtually impossible to convict a police officer of murder. The use of
lethal force is de facto operating procedure for an officer who 'has to
make a split second decision' in an interaction with a person of color and
the officer feels that they are in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
'Shoot first, ask questions later' is official policy. There is no room,
within the confines of the current legal structure, for us to ask and
challenge: Why did the officer feel afraid in the first place? Why could
they not see their victim's humanity, their ordinary-ness, their status as
a cherished loved one in their community? When Yanez is acquitted for the
murder of Philando Castile, when countless others, mountains of beloveds,
are killed by police with no commensurate consequences, it is clear that
police have a license to kill. Communities of color know that. This reality
doesn't go away during pride weekend.
Police officers have the ability to take off their uniform, choose a
different means of employment, and step out of the line of fire. Queer and
trans people of color, and all people of color, can never take off the skin
that elicits fear and hostility, can never choose to live in a different
body â one that isn't perceived as a threat, can never step out of the line
of fire â fire that comes from scared police officers who kill with
impunity.
Broaden the context of your lens, learn the history, respect and listen to
the voices of the people who started this movement, and stop whining about
who's being 'divisive' from behind your shield of white privilege.
On Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 3:55 PM Dennis Hill <
Rest of post
<email obscured>> wrote:
> Terrible decision by the Pride Parade organizers to ask police to get in
> the closet for this year's parade. parade Community leaders should be
> calling for unity. this action strikes me as being divisive. And i say
> that as a person coming from the left end of the political spectrum
>
> At a time when the goal is to end the unreasonable fear of the "other"
> the Pride Parade policy for this year's parade seems to be sending the
> exact opposite message.
>
> We are coming up on the 1 year anniversary of the July 7, 2016 shooting
> of Dallas police officers who were on duty protecting demonstrators.
> Now it is reasonable to fear a police presence at a community festival?
>
> Dennis Hill
> St. Paul
>
>
> Dennis Hill
> St. Paul
> About/contact Dennis Hill: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/dennishill1
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