We live in a world where it is socially and politically acceptable to lead our lives as we please without judgement, until it comes down to how we choose to portray ourselves, our romantic relationships and beliefs to the world. It is in the most intimate spaces of our lives where we are told what we are and are not allowed to do by the government and society. For many years since colonization, the world has dealt with overcoming types of oppression. In this 21st century, inequality of race and gender are stirring some of the most significant controversy, leading to murder, suicide, and exploitation in North America. While violence against blacks is a prevalent conflict in society due to white supremacy, trans womenof colour are being oppressed by other black people, demonstrating a tendency of heterosexism and transmisogyny within black communities.
Studying the oppression of trans women of colour requires an intersectional approach because black trans women are subject to racism, and discrimination for belonging to LGBTQIA+ and for identifying as women. White supremacy and corporate capitalism have inflicted racism upon the world, creating an ongoing struggle of [overcoming] the idea that white people are superior to black people — an idea which is in no way true trans women of colour are discriminated for belonging to the LGBTQIA+ for being regarded as “different” and not fitting the gender binary model. There is nothing “different” about what gender one chooses to identify as or their sexual preference. It is the people who are under the impression that they have the authority to judge others as being “different”. Trans women of colour are looked down upon for identifying and being female, as females are subject in gender inequality for being viewed as “lesser” compared to males. A recent statistic shows that “transwomen of colour are the most targeted victims of violence in the LGBTQIA+ community. Trans women make up 72% of anti-LGBTQIA+ homocide victims, and 89% of these victims were people of colour” (Cox). Trans women of colour are viewed as an inferior minority to others in the world as supported by the percentage of abuse and violence they have suffered. Black trans women deal with intersections of race, poverty, oppressive racism, gender identity and are victims of transmisogyny and transphobia.
The behaviour towards trans women of colour is an example of heterosexism within black communities because of the fact that discrimination of cisgender blacks is portrayed in the mass media as a wrongdoing of white supremacy but cisgendered blacks are also responsible for the discrimination of black trans women, which goes unnoticed. Recent cases of anti-black violence include the murders of Trayvon Martin and the Ferguson trial of Michael Brown. White supremacy was the cause of both these young men losing their lives, which caused riots across North America and liberated black communities to stand up against the supremacy. What wasn’t as publicized though were the cases of Islan Nettles and Amanda Milan, two young women who suffered street harassment and lost their lives by being beat to death by other members of the black community (Cox). The anti-black violence experienced by the cisgendered males is the same anti-trans violence they are deflecting upon trans women of colour. In honour of protesting against the anti-black violence crimes, a social media hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter” was used and started a campaign to bring awareness to the sensitivity of the crime. With that being said, how far does the #BlackLivesMatter campaign extend? It seems as though the same people protesting against anti-blackness think black lives matter only if the lives are of those who are cisgender. Reports of trans women of colour who have lost their lives are often misgendered and misnamed in mass media, which is a disrespect and disgrace to them, compared to nationally-known cases such as Trayvon Martin. This kind of behaviour shows transmisogyny and transphobia towards trans women of colour.
Feminism and gender equality need to be more emphasized in black communities in order for love and justice to be received and reciprocated by all. In a recent interview, television icon, Laverne Cox, shares her experiences as a trans woman of colour. She shared how once, two black men got into an argument over whether she was a “B – word”or an “N – word,”and another time, being catcalled by a man until the man realized she was transgender and deemed her “unattractive”. Cox was subject to racism and discrimination for identifying as trans and was considered attractive until the offender noticed she was trans, he found her gender identity was what was repulsing, showing transphobia towards her. Cox made a strong statement in the interview saying, “all black people have to realize that transphobia can’t co-exist with the fight against anti-blackness” (Cox). Cox’s point justifies this argument that if anti-blackness exists, blacks cannot be transphobic otherwise they’re fighting against the discrimination they are treating others with, thus being hypocritical. It is clear that in order to put an end to anti-trans violence and oppression against trans women of colour, the black community must “create spaces to express gender” so that individuals will not fear or endure being attack walking down the street (Cox). Cox concluded her interview with the quote, “Cornell West reminds us that justice is what love looks like in public.” One’s feelings of love towards another must not depend on that person’s race, gender identity, or sexual preference, love must be unconditional. In order to achieve justice for anti-blackness against white supremacy, society must first put an end to violence towards trans women of colour.
Works Cited:
Cox, Laverne. “Laverne Cox Explains the Intersection of Transphobia, Racism, and Misogyny (And What to Do About It).” Everyday Feminism. Everyday Feminism, 7 Dec. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/12/laverne-cox-intersection-what-to-do/>.
– JEC
125enjme said:
• Since choosing the same topic to analyze for my blog, I was already previously informed on the subject discussed by Laverne Cox in her speech. However, since neither your title nor your introduction paragraph mentioned her or her video, it was very confusing at first to identify the topic of your blog entry. That being said, your introduction was still very powerful, as you discuss the amount of control that government and society hold over individuals. I especially liked your first sentence since it is very well-phrased and holds a lot of truth. “We live in a world where it is socially and politically acceptable to lead our lives as we please without judgment, until it comes down to how we choose to portray ourselves, our romantic relationships and beliefs to the world”. Although coming around to discussing Cox’s video in the end of your blog, and making some very good insight on the racial discrimination that trans women face, there were some key phrases and sentences that stood out to me within your blog that seem to weaken your overall argument. Firstly, some of the terminology that you have used is outdated and could potentially be seen as offensive. For example, you used the term ‘blacks’ when describing people of colour, which has been deemed an unacceptable way to give a description of a person. It would help to read over your blog analysis to make sure it is clear and concise, as well as ridden of potentially insulting language. Aside from these common mistakes, your blog was interesting and powerful! ☺
~MMG
LikeLike
125enjme said:
Bringing in the cases of Islan Nettles and Amanda Milan was a very strong addition to your argument of the unfair treatment against transwomen of colour. Comparing the coverage of these two women compared to Trayvon Martin and Micheal Brown did help put the limited coverage of anti-trans violence against the two women in perspective. Something you could have considered when writing this point would be who the perpetrators were in each case. I believe part of the difference between the coverage of both cases was because in the Martin/Brown cases, the perpetrators were both white cops, and in the Nettles/Milan cases the perpetrators were “other members of the black community.” I believe this example has more to do with anti-black racism than transmisogny, but could definitely apply to either argument. Overall I enjoyed reading your blog and it was very insightful into the intersectionality in the Cox article.
LikeLike
125enjme said:
I thought your post was a little bit hard to follow in terms of relating your ideas to the article that you read. I was not quite sure what the premise of your article was about, so next time I would suggest being more clear. That being said, I thought your review was extremely well written and well thought out. You made it very clear that the issues of mistreatment that coloured trans women face are issues based on intersectionality. You did a great job of backing up your terms with evidence and examples, and I think you made a really great point when you said: “White supremacy and corporate capitalism have inflicted racism upon the world, creating an ongoing struggle of [overcoming] the idea that white people are superior to black people.” This point resonated with me personally, because I think that conflicting ideologies greatly impact the ideas that we see reflected within society today. Overall, I think your review was well written and you have a strong voice.
-ECW
LikeLike
125enjme said:
You did a really good job of recognizing the intersectional oppressions that trans women of colour face. The comparison you made between the murders of two black men and two trans women of colour and how they were covered in the media is very interesting and really drives your point about intersectionality home. Also, your point about the #BlackLivesMatter movement only fighting to protect the lives of cisgender people of colour was really strong and once again shows how trans women of colour suffer by means of intersectional oppressions. As commenter MMG said, I would be more careful with your use of terminology, replacing the word “blacks” with “people of colour” as this kind of language may be found offensive to readers. Other than that I thought this was a very insightful blog post.
– EMW
LikeLike