A Divide In Our Community

OK, so I am going to tackle something that is doubtless going to be very controversial here. Those who know me…know that I have NEVER been afraid to speak up on matters controversial. But this one is a bomb.

I have to speak on this…because I am one of those few who, I think…have the guts to say what I am going to say…and am willing to take the slings and arrows that will doubtless accompany my words.

This is coming as a result of something I saw very recently, on a transgender-specific Facebook group that I am reasonably sure the rest of you could never find or participate in, mostly for people considered to be leaders in the transgender community. Of course, I am always the controversial one, and people have come to expect that of me.

But this is something that I feel threatens to divide an already-marginalized community, because I know I cannot be the only one feeling what I am feeling…just one of few with the guts to speak up and say so.

This is the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and caused me to speak out:

What do you see in this post? Really think, and look at it for a moment…and then go down to where I tell you what I see….

Let me preface this for you, before I tell you what I see. The preface…is going to give you a clue what I see.

Let me start by saying I GET IT…things are horrible for transgender people of color. BUT…they are NOT a whole hell of a lot better for white trans like me, thank you very much!!

White privilege does NOT accrue to us in the way it does to other whites. The only thing white privilege does for us…is make things SLIGHTLY less terrible for us…than they would be if we were not white.

Let me show you what things look like from my end of the telescope:

Here is what I see: NO WHITES NEED APPLY. SCREW YOU, CRACKER, OUR POC LIVES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR HONKY BUTT, WE DO NOT CARE IF YOU DIE OF STARVATION!!

And what I also see is another division being created in our already-marginalized community. I mean, look…if you want a trans POC…can’t you just advertise that you want trans to apply…then just CHOOSE a POC? Do you HAVE to come out and all but say that whites need not apply??

I am sorry, but I do not see it as being racist to take an interest in your own race. I will fight like HELL for them to be equal…but I will god damned…if I am going to fight for them to be made superior to us…their lives mattering MORE than ours! Nor will I stand silent in the face of this.

I have faced incredible hardship, mostly in the area of employment, for 25 years. And it feels to me like for all these years…it has ALWAYS been MY group…that was on the outs…the one that never got any support, or help, or love or care.

First, it was the whole trans community….and the GLB’s that sold us down the river, threw us under the bus, used us as bargaining chips to gain rights for themselves only. And NOW…25 years later, when the trans FINALLY start to get a little bit of the care, love, support and help…IT GETS DIRECTED SOLELY AND ONLY AT THE POC. White trans like me can go to hell. Because of course, everyone knows that if you are white, everything is just aces for you…right?

And I know I am NOT the only white trans who is struggling, and will see this…and feel the same things I am feeling…they just might not have the guts to say so…because, of course…racism…right? YOU, as a white person, can NEVER say anything against POC…but they can engage in all manner of racism against whites! If it is wrong for us to do it to them…is it not also wrong for them to do it to US??

And, I might point out…if I really wanted to cause trouble (and I don’t….because it is not even a job I’d want anyway)…this is more the PRINCIPLE of the thing that is getting me angry – I could take this ad straight to the EEOC, and get them for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which says you cannot discriminate on the basis of race. It does NOT say race (black) or race (hispanic) or anything else. JUST RACE. And last I checked…white is also a race.

And when you are posting a job listing…and all but come out and say that whites need not apply…you are discriminating on the basis of race (white) – and that makes YOU a racist. And I am gonna call it out.

And this is NOT the first instance I have seen of this sort of behavior from POC’s. On another list that I later got banned from for speaking up…a POC was running a so-called charity and it was clear that the ONLY beneficiaries would be trans POC…that no matter the circumstances, whites would NOT be helped by this “charity.”

And the person running this “charity” – actually said, in the list…”If all the white people here would just give $25 a month…we could solve all these problems…etc, etc.” Really think about that. I am gonna unpack it here…and tell you what I see.

I see a trans POC…asking white trans for money…to the sole benefit of trans POC. I see a trans POC insinuating that everything is hunky dory for the white trans (because of course, as we all know if you are white then everything is just aces for you…right?) I see a trans POC INSINUATING that all white people, and all white trans have money that they COULD give but will not. That white trans are either selfish, or racist or both. That the ONLY thing whites are good for…is giving money to POC.

I ask you, who’s the racist here? I am sick and tired of being always in the group that nobody cares about!! I am supposed to fight for their betterment AT MY EXPENSE…and I am supposed to be okay with being made “less than” while they are placed in a position of superiority over us…their lives mattering MORE than ours? No, no, and HELL NO…and I won’t be silent about this.

It’s gone too far. It is an un-needed divide in an already marginalized community. It is going to create bitterness and resentment. I know I cannot be the only struggling white trans who feels precisely this.

I will fight like HELL for POC to be equal. I will NOT fight for them to be made BETTER than us….and smile while I am allowed to die…my needs and concerns and issues unaddressed. I will not. And if that makes me a racist, then so be it.