I have found that one of the hardest things for marginalized groups of people to do when struggling for justice is to address privilege. I've found this to be personally true. I never began to examine my own male-heterosexual privilege until about a month or so ago (so I apologize if in this article I don't seem fully enlightened-I'm trying). For so long I had been worrying about problems that particularly relate to being a black man. I had never thought of these as black male issues, I had just thought of them as black issues. I had never really thought about the fact that I was excluding issues central to black womanhood, black homosexuality, non-cisgender, etc. until somebody asked me what I mean when I say "social justice." My list went like this;
First of all, black women are educated at much higher rates, much more likely to work (possibly in part due to higher rates of incarceration of black men) , much less likely to drop out of highschool and college, and vote at a higher clip than any other demographic group in the country (This from a study called "Black women in the United States, Progress and Challenges). Black women are really fueling our communities. They are much more educated, much more politically active, and much more employed than black men. Instead of being rewarded for the role they play in sustaining our communities black women are much more likely to be impoverished, paid a lower wage than even a black man for the same job, much more subject to violence both by police and in instances of domestic abuse and rape, and are rarely represented in positions of power or leadership positions. This is a problem few if any black male leaders have managed to bring to the table. Black women are even forgotten by movements that they are driving! Look at this picture that the #BlackLivesMatter movement has used to raise awareness of police violence, notice a pattern? Although black men are routinely criminalized and victimized by police, black women are just as likely to be subject to police violence. How many people know about Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Jones, Darnesha Harris, Shontel Davis....? Even worse we forget to talk about the problems that black transgender women face. I recently found that they are even more subject to violence, both by police and otherwise. In addition there have been black transgender women who are routinely put into the wrong jail! Not only are black women, non-cisgender, and LGBTQA attacked by the larger society, what is even more troubling to me is the attitudes and beliefs that black heterosexual men themselves perpetrate. Black men routinely pathologize black women. We call them hoes, tricks, bitches, thots (watch a rap video, any rap video). We condemn any expression of black-female sexuality and pressure them to conform to European/White standards of beauty. We stereotype black women, complaining about black women with "attitudes" or call our women gold diggers. We praise white women for having black features - big lips, full curves, thick legs, a big ass - while stigmatizing our women who share the exact same characteristics; I've heard terms like "ghetto booty" or "ghetto thick" and "DSL" (If you don't know what DSLs are then I suggest you look it up on urban dictionary). We value white women over black women in general. Face it black men its true. Black men are much, much, MUCH more likely to marry inter-racially than are black women. This means that while we never have to worry about finding a black queen as a life partner, black heterosexual women constantly are worrying about finding a black partner. In addition the fact this article is mainly examining issues that discuss heterosexual and cis-gender roles and that it is very difficult for me to find issues that pertain to the intersectionality of homosexuality/non-cis-gender and blackness is a result of my black heterosexual/cis-gender privilege. I was recently a part of a discussion about the rift between black men and women. I didn't realize how deep the problem is until the men in the room began to speak (rant coming). EVERY SINGLE BLACK MAN THAT SPOKE HAD THE SAME SORRY ASS RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY BLACK MEN. It went something like this: "I feel you but honestly I don't do that, and none of my black friends do that." or "I've never felt that way" or "I've never seen that happen myself." SO AS A RESULT WE GOT ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE. How can we ask white people to check their privilege, and attack white privilege and unearned assets that they benefit, without ourselves checking privilege and acknowledging unearned assets?! Black men here's my assignment, look at this bingo card, if you've EVER said one of these things then I want you to google "the black male privilege checklist by Jewel Woods" and get to checking your shit. These are our mothers and sisters. Black queens and princesses that are literally wholly responsible for the existence of black communities in America. Women who raised you, many times on her own, worked insane hours, cooked for you, put clothes on your back, and still managed to channel her inner diva, her inner shot-caller, her inner baller. These are the women who are so educated, so smart, politically active, and at the same time funny, charasmatic, and stunningly beautiful. These are the women that have your back EVERY TIME a black man is gunned down, incarcerated, and exploited. It's time we grab their backs too. -515 p.s. I'm sorry for the language/ranting, this is one of the most frustrating things I deal with. p.s.s. Black men, check this bingo board, for real. If you've said any of these things, you better check yo' self before you wreck yo' self.
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October 2018
Matt BruceViva DSM!! |