Discrimination and Depression (Fox News is a Public Health Menace!) October 22, 2010
Posted by alana in Activism, Depression, Islamophobia, LGBT, Marxism, Racism.3 comments
When I was asked to speak at the National Equality March for LGBT rights in Washington, DC on October 11, 2009, I took that opportunity to speak out against Islamophobia, which may seem like an odd choice. What I said in my speech was this:
“I believe that for this movement to be strong enough to create real and lasting change, it will have to expand across borders. Not just state borders, but also the obstacles that continue to divide us both inside and outside the movement – like discrimination based on race, gender, or religious preference. Immediately after 9/11, Arabs and Muslims were instantly demonized, and Jerry Falwell said he believed the attack on the World Trade Center was a punishment from God; that the abortionists, feminists, and gays helped this to happen… Anyone who has ever been in the closet out of fear of retribution, hatred, and violence should know exactly how Arabs and Muslims feel when they are constantly suspected as terrorists.”
As a socialist, I think that identity politics divide and weaken the Left, so solidarity across all struggles for civil rights is crucial. When I worked to organize a coalition of all the LGBT activist groups in New York City to mobilize for the National Equality March, I constantly argued that we had to be principled anti-racists at the same time. The coalition ended up being overwhelmingly white, and I took the position that it was not enough to simply not be racist as individuals, but that active anti-racism had to be part of our work. There was verbal agreement, but I can’t say that it was something that was truly put into practice, for the most part. Today it still burns me up every time I hear a very dear friend of mine who is a gay Black man talk about how deeply hurtful it is for him to consistently see “no Black men” posted in otherwise appealing online dating profiles.
There is nothing more frustrating to me than arbitrary identity-based discrimination between people who should be on the same side. The advantage of Marxism is that, with a class-based understanding of society, the question of what side you are on depends on your material interests. Either you are part of the working majority who would benefit from higher wages, better social services, and social equality – or you are part of the elite capitalist minority that is only able to maintain power by keeping wages down, depriving people of social services, and keeping the majority from fighting for equality by exacerbating divisions based on race, gender, sexuality, immigration status, religious preference, and so on. (more…)
