Mod: Ash, they/them pronouns. My normal account is @4shtronomy.
This account Is based on other this-is accounts, specifically about the infantilization of disabled people.
Schedule is mostly just when I can answer them, and there's supposedly 6 daily, this is because knowing I've answered something but not having it posted gives me stress, so some days/weeks there'll be 6 posts daily, and others nothing because I get very bad flare ups and I want to be able to answer the asks with the best of my ability.
First time doing this, so if I mess up in any way please tell me.
What's this blog?
[PT: What's this blog?]
This blog is focused on spreading awareness about the infantilization of any kind of disabled and mentally ill people. You can submit your own experiences or from others, as long as the privacy of others is respected. Infantilization in other departments is also welcome. Intersectionality is very important, and in a lot of posts it'll be apparent as when I see that anything overlaps I'll also add it there.
Vents are accepted. Depending on my spoons and if I think the ask could benefit from some info/resources/ideas I'll add those. If you don't want it in any way please state it in the ask so I can know, and if you want it and it's part of the reason you sent it also say it (as I don't do it always and I may not do it if it stated).
If you need tone tags, simpler vocabulary, etc please state it and I'll accommodate it as well as I can.
Constructive criticism about anything I've posted here is accepted.
Posts that explain some concepts in depth
[PT: Posts that explain some concepts in depth]
- What's wrong with (dehumanizing) infantilization and what can make infantilization be good/bad. [Link]
Tag system:
[PT: Tag system:]
#this is infantilization [link] for when something is infantilization.
#this is not infantilization [link] for when something is not infantilization and unrelated posts.
#resources [link] reposts that have relevant resources.
And specific hashtags for who's being infantilized.
This blog is inspired by accounts like: @thisisparamisia, @this-is-ableism, @this-is-anti-masculinity, @thisis-suicidism, @this-is-anti-homeless, @this-is-exorsexism, @this-is-ageism, @this-is-adultism, @this-is-amato-heteronormativity, @this-is-alterhumisia, @this-is-classism, @this-is-sinophobia-orientalism, @this-is-indigemisia, @thisisantisemitism, @this-is-deformimisia, and similar accounts. (If you don't want to be tagged, let me know and I'll take you out.)
About mod:
[PT: About mod:]
I'm Ash (they/them) and I'm a minor. I'm LSN autistic and for lack of better wording I'm "gifted" and have a high number on the WISC-V (142) which is to say that even if that score is very advitrary, classist, and harmful, I have not experienced almost any infantilization for my autism in that department, but for my age, stimming and social interactions. So I want to make sure that you know that if I ever fuck up about talking about the infantilization of Intellectual/cognitive disabilities, please let me know. As what I know comes from what I've been able to educate myself in, but I've grown in a place where I'm surrounded by a lot of harmful stereotypes and I wouldn't want to spread them.
I have chronic headaches, POTS, and very bad period pain.
I am in school. I won't be able to mod anything for that period of time or when I sleep. I hate seeing notifications so if they aren't very pilled up I'll answer them pretty soon, if I ended up having too many asks I'll have to ration them, but that's not the case for now.
I know personally people with epilepsy, rheumatic arthritis, astigmatism, dyslexia, ADHD, autism and not much more. Even if I know it because of them I'm not an expert.
I want to reiterate, that my and my friends's disabilities are listed here because I want you all to know what I personally know of, to be able to see the biggest gaps on my knowledge.
I educate myself as much as I can daily, and if I receive any ask that's specifically about something I know little about I'll research it before answering. But still, if something is wrong you're more than welcome to correct me.
Not sure if this is ableism but as soon as a disabled person experiences any sort of struggle and they post it online in a silly way. a bunch of non disabled people are like âomg I shouldnât complain about my lifeâ âyou are gods strongest soldierâ âomg your so adorableâ idk it just feels strange
This is infantilisation as a result of ableism @this-is-infantilization
I fear many perisex trans people do not take intersexism seriously as an axis of marginalization at all and in fact view intersex people primarily as convenient talking points to boost their own oppression.
Slurs used against intersex people are often taken and reclaimed for perisex trans people who then shut the door on us, telling intersex people these slurs were never "really" for us and that we need to keep our mouth shut on their usage.
Terminology we coin is similarly taken by perisex trans people, and then their usage is twisted and turned around to bludgeon us with in the endless attempt to fit intersex people into the box of agab based 'girl intersex' or 'boy intersex' for the sake of making trans discourse cleaner.
While it may seem harmless on the surface, even things like intersex animals being consistently held up as "trans icons" while their intersex status is ignored, is representative of the larger problem.
We're fetishized, propped up as "transition goals", people gush about what they imagine intersex bodies to be, joke about- or in rare cases, seriously claim- to be "transitioning into being intersex", because to them intersex people are a fetishized aesthetic.
And then, anybody who doesn't fit into their fetishized view of the 'true hermaphrodite' are treated as if they're not intersex at all. How often do perisex people mockingly deride who they view as "just cis women with pcos" for daring to try to have a voice in gendered conversations? As if hormonally intersex people are 'fakers' in some way.
We're used as a talking point, constantly, against transphobes.
"How can transphobia be 'basic biology' when even sex isn't binary?" perisex trans people challenge transphobes, but then, as soon as they're done using us as a gotcha, those same perisex trans people try to push us into a sex binary that doesn't fit us.
There's an envy, almost, to how perisex trans people talk about "cis children" having access to "gender affirming care" like surgeries and hormones, speaking about our medical abuse, the medical mutilation of our children, as if it's a privilege to us as "cis people", rather than a horrible oppression our community faces.
And then there's the argument, on how transmisogynistic laws impact "cis women" (intersex people) as well, as if this is something transphobes are unaware of. Whether they'll say it or not, very few pericis people care to differentiate between a "hermaphrodite" and a "transsexual" in their minds, intersex people are not collateral damage, we are intended targets.
Not to mention how intersex people are also used as weapons in intra-community discourse within the trans community as well, people will tack on the concept of intersexism to an argument to legitimize it while refusing to listen to or engage with our community, at least, beyond the few intersex people with internalized intersexism they can find to boost their points and then drop. We are a talking point, but we ourselves are never given the space to talk, because fundamentally our oppression is seen as lesser, 'collateral' in transphobia, this is why perisex trans people seem to think we're a good debate point to use against transphobes who surely care about us.
This concept of intersex people as "collateral" is also what fuels the concept that trans people can, and should, "just pretend to be intersex" to get out of instances of oppression, as if intersex people don't experience horrible violence regardless, for looking the way we do, for being what we are. Actually talk to almost any intersex person and I'm sure they'll be able to give you countless examples of times "I just have a condition" didn't save them, because intersex people too are active targets of gendered violence and oppression.
Even intersex people who are also trans are frequently given a lesser seat at the table. Because we're "lucky", because surely we have an easier time transitioning, a head start, and surely by virtue of being intersex we- especially intersex people people with an ISIG- can more easily be 'accepted' as another gender anyways, so rather than intersex trans people being treated as more vulnerable, because of how intersexism and transphobia intersect to doubly marginalize us, we're viewed as somehow 'less trans', or at least impacted less significantly by transphobia, and, well, functionally, it seems a lot of trans people do not believe intersexism exists, or if they do believe in it, they view it as a misdirected and lesser form of transphobia.
And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of intersex terminology and oppression and symbols being co-opted by perisex people who then try to claim those things were never ours at all, I'm tired of being a talking point for people to use for their benefit without having a voice of our own, I'm tired of us being rhetorical props to be put back in our boxes when perisex people are done using us, I'm tired of our community being derisively talked over from all sides, I'm tired of the fetishization, the envy, the belittling, and of still having to meekly and respectfully beg for a seat at the table in discussions of gendered oppression!
Speaking as someone who is both trans and intersex: the trans community has a massive intersexism problem, and I'm tired of begging for scraps of solidarity from people who are more than happy to use us when it benefits them!
Welcome to @this-is-afamphobia, a blog where we look at things and say "That's afamphobia!"
A little bit about me: my main blog is @privygrid, I am demifamilial, aroace and agender, and I am of legally adult age (thats the closest im getting to revealing my age on here). I go by she/they, and am not a big fan of gendered terms, so please try to avoid using those for me. I am also a university student with a ton of assignments, so apologies if I miss any submissions.
What's afamphobia? Afamphobia is discrimination towards afamilial individuals. What is afamilial? A person who is afamilial/afamspec is someone who experiences little to no familial attraction/love.
Please make sure your submissions are polite and worded clearly. If you wish to make any changes to your submission, you can send a message to @privygrid about it.
Inspired by other this-is blogs, mainly @this-is-arophobia, @this-is-aplphobia, and @this-is-ableism.
Me: "Damn people are REALLY BAD at knowing when to tag their eyestrain art/images...either that or they just don't care about photosenitive epileptic people like me. I feel really sad now."
Person: "But Allison, what if they just don't know or understand what qualifies as eyestrain and what doesn't?"
Me: "You know what? That could be a factor...While it is always better to be safe rather than sorry (so YES people should always tag eyestrain even if they're unsure if it "counts" or not) maybe you've got a point?"
Anyways! HERE'S YOUR HANDY GUIDE TO WHAT CAN COUNT AS EYESTRAIN! I'm pulling this straight from the Artfight rules page about what needs to be labeled and filtered as eyestrain because it's VERY helpful and VERY accurate! I also know not everybody has an AF account and might not always have access to this handy guide, and this is an important resource; That's why I'm sharing it here! (under the cut)
PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!! THIS IS ABOUT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OTHERS!!!
Full eyestrain AF page link
"But Allison! How were you able to screenshot that example if you're so sensitive to eyestrain?"
I dimmed the HELL out of my computer screen and looked away while taking the screenshot and did the same when putting it into this post, that's how lol. BUT YEAH ANYWAYS!!! Once again:
PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!! THIS IS ABOUT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OTHERS!!!
I think that this Reddit post (that I saw featured in a YouTube short) is ableist
(I tried my hand at an ID, I hope it's good <=) )
I guess that this could be nuanced?? But I think it's ableist (specifically towards those who have food restrictions due to disabilities) for numerous reasons.
1, picky eaters being quotes implies that the OP here doesn't really believe that picky eating is a thing, or not valid. And, in this context, it implies that adults specifically can't be picky eaters.
2, there are so many reasons why someone would not want to eat certain foods, including spicy. I don't think everyone should have to cave to one individual. I do think that instead, the group should try to see what the picky eater in this case could eat at the restaurant. If everyone immediately just gives in to their preference (as the post implies) then you can't blame them for that.
3, Infantilising someone for their food preferences is just rude. Not to mention ableist since disabled folk are so commonly infantilised.
4, judging them for only getting ketchup on a burger is so strange??? So, what if they just get ketchup?? So what if you would've had more ingredients in your burger?? It's not your burger; it's theirs. Out of everything to complain about, it's someone's harmless food choice??? It just seems petty.
5, "It's not cute." Implies that picky eaters, or people who otherwise have dietary restrictions, only have them to seem 'cute' or appealing in someway, which I find just weird. Especially since so many disabled folk are told they're 'faking' or 'doing too much' for attention.
6, How bizarre that someone with food restrictions would want to be accommodated??? It's almost as if disabled folk need accommodations. Woah. (Sarcasm)
Also, assuming that the restrictions are wholly due to an 'underdeveloped palate' is crazy. You don't know why they may be picky, and it makes it seem like OP's anger and pettiness is just coming from an assumption that might not even be true.
7, Yayy, making those who are disabled feel bad for being accommodated. (Sarcasm). Yikes.
8, Judging people for having 'childish' food preferences.
9, Some picky eaters, disabled or not, may be able to expand their palates/get better with eating certain foods. But assuming that that is the end-all solution to the problem is wrong. Because not everyone can just 'learn to like new foods.' It's often not that simple.
Sorry for the ranting and breakdown. This post just bothered me and I wanted to explain, in detail, why.
If there was anything I was wrong about, please correct me and let me know.
This is ableism.
Also Iâve never seen situations where someone who has dietary restrictions gets everyone else to go to the place they want, Iâve seen them just eat their own thing before, during, or after the group does.
Also them saying âunderdeveloped palateâ just brushes me the wrong way, I may be reading too deep but I feel that can be tied to classism..? Stuff like red meats, fish, and general âfancierâ foods that many friend of mine are adverse to are very expensive.
there's a lot of people who have recently realized they are intersex, who have variations that aren't considered "traditionally intersex" (partially my doing lol). & many people who realized they had a variation that counts as intersex, have spent much of their life passing as and seeing themselves as perisex, and are very new to the intersex community and intersex activism.
to try to mitigate inter-intersex intersexism, i felt it would be good to write up a list of rights & responsibilities we all have as intersex people, towards each other. i think this format works well bc it reminds us that caring for ourselves & caring for each other are two sides of the same coin. we ask a little more of ourselves, in how we treat other people, so that we can receive a little more from others, bc we are all in this together.
this isn't meant to be a super formal complete thing, but i felt like it would do people some good to explicitly state these values & put them out there to be considered. especially since many ppl on this site (& in general) are autistic/neurodivergent & may benefit a lot from explicit advice on how to engage w others!
all people with sex trait variations outside of what is typical for "males" and "females" have the right to find their place in the intersex community, and use the label without explanation or apology. there is no intersex hierarchy, no "you must suffer This Much to ride," no giving the authority to decide what intersex means to perisex doctors before sex variant people themselves.
we have the responsibility to keep our most vulnerable siblings at the center of our community, like penguins in a huddle. that means people (esp children) who have been or are being targeted by CIMI due to their intersex traits. it also means multiply marginalized intersex people, especially intersex people of color and non-western intersex people. those who intersexism strikes first and hardest deserve the most community support.
we have the right to make sense of our lived experiences through the framework of intersexuality, and to talk about our experiences using that language. we should be able to expect the community to hold space for our stories, our experiences, our needs as intersex people.
we have the responsibility to educate ourselves on other intersex people, to hold space for their stories and experiences and needs. we should educate ourselves on intersex terminology and history, and we should have a basic understanding of other intersex variations and what people with different variations experience.
we have the right to call ourselves intersex, even when people w internalized intersexism or who use the medical model (like doctors) do not believe we have a right to the term. we have a right to use the language & framework of intersexism to make sense of our experiences with discrimination, abuse, pain, alienation, etc.
we have the responsibility to identify & deconstruct our own internalized intersexism. we have a responsibility to educate ourselves on forms of intersexism we do not personally face, and to understand how all forms of intersexism are connected & uphold the same oppressive system. we should treat every act of intersexist violence as if it happened to one of our family members, being outraged and taking action while centering the needs and voice of the actual victims.
we have the right to be frustrated, furious, depressed, anxious, traumatized about our experiences with intersexism and to be deeply affected by those experiences. we have a right to be imperfect, messy, problematic, and to struggle to do better and have that effort recognized.
we have the responsibility to show compassion & understanding to other intersex people when they are affected by their experiences with intersexism, and to put effort into navigating our own intersex pain & trauma consciously. other intersex people being imperfect, hurt people are not our enemies, nor does being an imperfect hurt person give you a free pass to treat others as your enemies.
the most powerful antidote to imposter syndrome is community and connection. so if you are just realizing that your body counts and struggling with doubt? the best thing to do is to practice being in community w those people and recognizing our shared experiences, struggles, and goals. not talking over or develop any kind of complex around more visibly or traditionally intersex people.
let me make this very clear: the expansive definition of what "intersex" means has to come as a result of being dedicated to resisting intersexism. hypospadias is able to be intersex because intersex activists make the choice to reject the perisex medical model and define the word as an umbrella term for sex variance, so people can unite under shared experience without a doctor's scrutiny of if they "count." that cannot be separated from the wider fight against intersexism, especially directed at ambiguous genitalia & "obviously intersex" variations.
i consider my hypospadias/H-VCV intersex not just because it fits my personal experiences (altho it does) but bc I see the direct line between the idea of "intersex traits can be common, they can be minor, they can be mild, it all fits under the umbrella" & the goal of truly dismantling the sex binary and all rules and boxes we draw around how bodies Should Look and Should Act and Should Identify. my indiv identity as intersex is part of a much larger picture & i identify as intersex as an active choice to connect my experiences with my sex variant traits to that goal, that dream. i do this rather than understanding my body the way perinormativity would like me to (as a disordered female), by choosing to create solidarity w other sex variant people in how we've been hurt by the sex binary. to identify as intersex is a personal choice but it's also a deeply social one. once i decide to take it on, that label cannot be separated from the context of community & our shared place in society.
when you enter this shared space, remember to wipe your feet, take off your shoes, and hold the door open for the next person looking for shelter. and when you share your story with the people who welcome you in, be ready to listen to theirs in return.
#also some tidbits#do not call traits 'normal' and 'abnormal' even if you have them#you may think you're just talking about yourself but if you're talking within earshot of someone who also has that trait you're also saying#they're abnormal#as well as do not call someone 'peritypical' without their consent or assume what things people will be ok with when describing their body#even if you use terms like agenital others might not be ok with it. what might be a clitorophallus to you might be that persons penis.#just ask before applying terms to people
disclaimer: I am east asian. if anyone who is not white sees anything wrong with my phrasing, inaccuracies, or insensitivity, or something I missed, please feel free to add on. Iâm just one person with one perspective; none of what I say should be taken as The Singular way to draw an Asian character. if you havent done so already, please take the effort to expand your view of Asian culture outside this one tutorial.
if a white person reblogs this and adds something stupid Iâm going to bite and kick you like a wild animal
I LOVE this post and wanted to add some additional info, cause I see a lot of people who assume that drawing asian hair is the same as drawing white hair. This is not the case! Thereâs more to it than just the color.
Image description for the original post and my addition are underneath the read more at the end.
Thank you for reading! Once again, image description for my images and OPâs images are under the cut.
Just like OP, Iâm only one single person, so if anyone wants to correct me or add something I missed, then go for it. And further disclaimer, there are exceptions to everything Iâve said in this post, and it only applies to East and Southeast asian people who are either not mixed or white-mixed, as those are the hair types Iâm most familiar with.
Edit: AUGH I FORGOT TO mention this but @ everyone in the comments talking about blue eyes on biracial asians, hereâs another guide I made that goes over color inheritance for biracial people:
https://6480n.tumblr.com/post/633074808569069568/making-this-guide-because-i-see-this-question-time
I hated being autistic in high school, I noticed people speak to be in a higher tone of voice to me than when they're around other people/their friends. People talked to me as if I was a toddler. Or when people speak bad about me a few inches away from me as if I can't notice what they're talking about đ
Oh and I wanted to add other stuff I hate about what people are saying about autism
- Butch Hartman(creator of fairly oddparents) thinking he can cure autism by "praying it away"
- People saying autism is caused by tynenol or vaccines
-"I wish I had autism", "Autism isn't a disability it's a different ability"
This is neuropsych ableism and infantilization. @this-is-infantilization
I had very similar experiences due to my own autism. It sucks.
Also, can people please let go of the "differability" thing. I'm sick of it. Disability is not a bad word.
Aid organizations & Community Kitchens operating in Sudan
SudanFunds - website compiling verified campaigns and organizations
Khartoum Aid Kitchen - they operate 12 kitchens across sudan, including 2 hospitals
Saving Al-Geneina / Hope and Haven for Refugees - provides food, medical care, and education to refugees in sudan
Sudanese American Physicians Association's medical aid program - they operate a hospital in khartoum, **the ONLY hospital still delivering babies in sudan**
One Million Sustainable Pads Campaign - distributes reusable pads
FAH Supporting Sudan - financial assistance to sudanese hospitals, backed by the FAH / federation of american hospitals
Community kitchen in Cairo - provides food to refugees who have fled to egypt
Community kitchen in Sudan - provides food for 1200 families
Another community kitchen in Sudan - provides food, only ÂŁ1,500 raised so far
Sanad Initiative - raises money to keep sudanese medical students in school
Sudan Solidarity Initiative - run by sudanese diaspora, provides direct funds to all kinds of sudanese including farmers unions and low cost clinics, also runs awareness-raising workshops
and, finally, this isnt a community organization, but @lgbtq-refugees is a large group of LGBTQ refugees who have reached out to me personally. they have been kicked out of multiple IDP camps because of their queer identity. i can personally attest they are real refugees who really need help. you can donate to them here
Hey Sorry for the inactivity, it will Be like this probably until mid June. As I'm having finals, I'm in a flare up and I'm very fatigued. So it'll mostly be reblogs.
(This also goes for my other accounts: @4shtronomy @this-is-lookism)
âOn Human Dignity.â Â Blackness, Gender & Sexuality
Two things:
As usual, thereâs historical and social context that I need explain! This lesson is not what sexuality is, or âhow to write being gay while Blackâ. Thatâs⊠not that different from you. What this lesson is, is context on how Blackness plays a role in our presentation and understanding of gender and sexuality (as well as your perception of it), and how thatâs something you should consider in your characterization, writing, and character design.
I DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING! The reason this took so long was because I read multiple books and wallowed in my remaining lack of understanding. I cannot join The Tumblr Discourse so do not ask. I tried to be as inclusive as I could, but I learn something new on this app every day, so if I miss something- and Iâm bound to- I apologize in advance. Please have grace with me.
TW: Sexual assault mention, homophobia, misogynoir, cannibalism, misgendering
âThatâs that White People Shit"
Iâm putting the hardest part first; walk with me, youâll be fine!
I will be honest: this section here, while I do think you should know, I donât really expect nonblack people to incorporate it in depth. Not because it cannot be done, but because it is a sensitive topic that we ourselves are still struggling with. If you have struggled with anything else while writing Black characters up to this point, this one certainly isnât for you to touch. Just keep in mind!
Thereâs an idea Iâve heard before on both sides that Black people are more likely to be homophobic, that queerness itself is white. That is a ridiculous belief, but the root of it ends up right back where you think it would: slavery! Iâm sure that you saw me post while I was reading The Delectable Negro by gay Black author Vincent Woodard. I shared those increasingly uncomfortable quotes on purpose! If you have a desire to understand Black culture and Black thought, that means being willing to acknowledge Black pain. How can you avoid stereotypes if you avoid learning their source? Â
While I will be using quotes from the entire book, the specific chapter of âEating Nat Turnerâ is a succinct explanation of why admitting to the presence of homosexuality, gender fluidity, and queer identity within the Black community is so difficult for my people. While I highly, HIGHLY recommend reading this chapter yourself, it essentially comes down to how admitting to such a potential vulnerability in the armor of Blackness, in gender identity and particularly Black masculinity, would allow white supremacy to destroy us as a people, to do validate doing even more cruel things to us when in a position of power over us. Itâs a defensive reaction based in trauma that disregards and discards the queer members of our own community as a threat, a liability when it comes to fighting against the ubiquitous presence of white supremacy.
âIntuitively, Black gay men understood the issue of homosexuality during slavery as a complex phenomenon shaped by a number of factors, including the nationâs unresolved relationship to the legacy of slavery, Black liberatory ideology dating back to slavery, and, most importantly, the maintenance of traditional notions of family and community that originated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The legacy and memory of slavery had a powerful effect that left many Black gay men feeling isolated from and rendered invisible within Black communities.
Joseph Beam said it first and best: âI cannot go home as who I am. . . . When I speak of home, I mean not only the familial constellation from which I grew, but the entire Black community: the Black press, the Black church, Black academicians, the Black literati, and the Black left⊠I am most often rendered invisible, perceived as a threat to the family, or am tolerated if I am silent and inconspicuous.â ⊠As Philip Brian Harper has noted, the Black homosexual functioned in the twentieth century as an index for Black masculine anxieties. These ranged from the very personal and painful anxieties of lynching, castration, and the denial of civil rights to a larger set of anxieties rooted in historical erasure and cultural genocide.â
âSex and gender they also conflated with homosexuality, made out to equal effeminacy. Many Blacks linked homosexuality to castration and the recent history of Black men who had been lynched and Black women who had been raped in the Jim Crow South and in the North. Homosexuality, in its metaphoric power, had an exhaustive function: It is equated with the absence of family, hatred of Black people, estrangement from oneâs kin and culture, and all of those horrific aspects of Black experience about which Black people would rather not speak.â
An example of why nonblack people should consider the depth of such a topic- and their place to do so- before incorporating it into their story comes in the form of Styronâs Confessions of Nat Turner, and the backlash he faced from the Black community for such a sensationalized story from a white author.
âThe ten Black male contributors [who wrote Ten Black Writers Respond] coupled cannibalism (overtly and covertly) with homoeroticism and effeminacy. For these Black men, homoeroticism became a way of circumventing and projecting their experiences and pain onto certain âeffeminateâ Black men: the consumed Black man these Black men equated with the homosexual man. Homosexuality served as a means of containing certain unwieldy and historically difficult topics pertaining to Black masculinity, such as the need for intimacy, gender variance, sexual and emotional vulnerability, and violation. It was as if, in this very powerful and discursive moment, threads that had been all along winding through history wove together in a manner that illuminated the past as much as they clouded and blocked full access to its complicated meaning.â
âOn the surface, at least, I do not disagree with these Black men and women. I think their analysis regarding historicity and the diminishment of Black communal ties was mostly correct. Styronâs novel was historically inaccurate, depicting Turner as raised by whites rather than the Black parents and grandmother Turner spoke about in his original âConfessions.â Styron depicts aspects of Turnerâs sexual life that are not validated in any documentation coming from the time period, and Styronâs exhaustive probing into the racial hatred and self-hatred of Turner clearly reflected something in his own psyche and white identity that he felt compelled to project onto Turner. Black men were put on the defensive by both the novel and by the institutions (literary production, the media) and individuals who supported Styron as an authentic interpreter of Black historical experience. Many Black men, like Bennett, felt that Styron was waging a literary war that paralleled the contemporary political and police state war against Black menâŠâ
The problem with this mindset and approach within the community is that, while it attempts to protect our community, it silences both the prosperity and the pain of an entire section of it, as well as shutting down important conversation that needs to be had even by nonqueer members. And itâs doing it all to fight against a force- white supremacy- that is going to commit violence against us regardless! Respectability politics forces many Black people to stay silent, to not speak up on things that may rock the boat- but the boat needs to be rocked! Blaming fellow victims of racism is not going to save us!
âThat was the irony of this moment. Black people invoked the cannibal discourse that could have freed up and complicated Black male perspectives on everything from social consumption to homoeroticism only to defend Black masculinity and Black culture. Black men were not interested in, nor capable of dealing with, the complex legacy of cannibalism and homoeroticism that so powerfully shaped their responses to Styronâs novel.â
But that does NOT mean that itâs a nonblack personâs place to make that argument! While I cannot stop you, I do want you to keep in mind that- as always with sensitive topics- you may have to face Black people who may rightfully be offended by your depiction if not done with care. Styron studied James Baldwin himself- who faced backlash on his end for saying that it was time for the Black community to face such a conversation- and even then, he still projected his white pathology and opinions onto the story of such a prolific hero in our history. Tread lightly!
âWell they donât seem gay to me.â- A Eurocentric Standard of Passing
How many times have you heard this about a Black character? And if youâre Black and LGBTQ, how often have you heard it about people (or maybe even yourself?) How do we ânot seem gayâ? What is gay supposed to be? Thereâs this denial, almost, of Black LGBTQ folks, based in a complete disconnect of understanding of our own forms of gender expression and sexuality.
Itâs extremely bizarre, because so much of pop gay culture as we know it is from Black LGBTQs (please refer to my infamous AAVE lesson), but⊠when we imagine an LGBTQ person, they're white.
If youâre Black and queer, you have to be this stereotypical, flamboyant RuPaul-esque figure. Canât be regular degular. If youâre gay, you gotta be Uber Gayâą. If youâre trans, you better pass with Complete Gender and Pizzazz. If youâre nonbinary, youâre not âandrogynousâ enough. If youâre intersex or asexual, youâre practically not real. If you donât fill this (white, western) mold, you must not be right. When all you have to be in order to be gay⊠Is be gay.
I shouldnât have to put on extra performance to qualify as queer in your eyes! Do you know what looks are considered âandrogynousâ in my community? What behaviors are deemed âmasculineâ versus âfeminineâ? Do you know anything about my queer culture, or are you subconsciously comparing it to your own?
I want you to recognize that whatever image of queerness you have in your mind for your favorite or original characters, if Black people of all shapes and sizes arenât included, thereâs a problem! Because what are you seeing in others, that youâre not seeing in us? Is that, perhaps, a you problem? And why are we not worth the added effort of queer layering that others are?
THAT SAID!
âOh I know what thatâs like, Iâm gay-â
This one mostly- if not always- comes from white queer folk. Iâve linked The Last Interview with James Baldwin. Itâs so short. PLEASE take the time to read it. Iâve always adored how James Baldwin expresses himself, and while I could never stand so close, I have studied how he conveys his thoughts. But thereâs almost nothing I could say that he doesnât say better.
âA Black gay person who is a sexual conundrum to society is already, long before the question of sexuality comes into it, menaced and marked because heâs Black or sheâs Black. The sexual question comes after the question of color; itâs simply one more aspect of the danger in which all Black people live. I think white gay people feel cheated because they were born, in principle, into a society in which they were supposed to be safe. The anomaly of their sexuality puts them in danger, unexpectedly. Their reaction seems to me in direct proportion to the sense of feeling cheated of the advantages which accrue to white people in a white society.â
The idea that âI know what itâs like to experience this oppression as a Black person because Iâm gayâ is not true. Itâs like saying âoh look at my tan, Iâm as Black as you nowâ. Stop it. Think back to that first section on history we discussed- no, you and I are not the same. We can discuss our existing connections, our intersection and have sympathy and empathy with one another on human dignity. We donât have to act like weâre the same to do that! So donât go headstrong into your writing (or life) saying âoh I get that completely, itâs because Iâm queerâ. There are more tactful ways to express your intent of solidarity.
'Queer' vs 'The N Word'
Weâre gonna nip this one in the bud, because weâre leaving that argument in 2024. You know the one- âsaying queer is like using the N-word- as a reclamation/slur!â What this argument reveals, used by EITHER SIDE, is how yâall donât actually have community with Black people.
It implies that either âwe donât like itâ or âwe doâ. Yet another binary that does not exist! There are plenty of Black people that despise that word, regardless of context. That think it brings us down. And then there are those that use it as a reclamation of an identity that was used to demean and dehumanize. Either way, one party is not going to walk up to a stranger and force it on them- that would cause an actual fight! Itâs not improving your argument. As a whole, I would say stop using Black politics in general to improve your arguments when you are unaware of the overlap, or maybe the lack thereof, between Blackness and queerness in your argument. It shows. Iâm not your tool; Iâm not your Negro!
Iâm not here to tell anyone whether queer is a slur or not. I donât use it as one, but I recognize when people are uncomfortable, when it is being used as one, and I will use different language when I am speaking directly to someone who says âI do not like that word, describe me as __â. I am just here to say that weâre leaving that argument behind.
Black =/= Gender
Blackness and the concept of Gender have a fraught, confusing history. Not human enough to have rights, but human just enough to fail to meet Eurocentric standards of gender.
One example of this is the term âstudâ. Studs are an example of Black women traversing gender presentation, the origin of which is because Black people are perceived as having âlesser sexual dimorphismâ- i.e. you canât tell whoâs a woman or not. Itâs an in-community joke that doesnât make sense spoken outside of its historical context (thus, no, your white butch is NOT a stud within this context).
Another example: Megan Thee Stallion is one of the most stunning, feminine women I have ever seen⊠And her entire career, people have called her a man. Because sheâs brown-skinned, Black, confident, loud, and openly sexual, sheâs deemed manly. I canât stand it. Plus her height- and mind you, Taylor Swift, of the same height and probably a higher number of bodies over the years, has never once been called a man or lost any of her âfeminineâ charm despite it. Why is that? If one of her men had shot in the foot, trying to kill her, there would be an uproar. Why is that?
There is an internal contradiction that being a Black woman is being inherently âgender nonconformingâ. The first reason is that I will never be allowed to truly be a âwomanâ because to be a woman is to be white while doing it. White Tears/Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad is an excellent book on this dynamic in all women of color, and Black activists like Angela Davis and Kimberle Crenshaw have written and discussed the topic as well.
The second reason is I have to play the role of whatever âgenderâ is expected to get me through this life. I have to be more âmasculineâ; strong, assertive, and proactive, a hard worker willing to sacrifice it all every day, in order to protect my family and myself in a world where a lack of resilience might kill me. I cannot allow weakness to stop me from taking care of my community, because Black women are supposed to show up and save the day. Find a Black woman! they say. Sheâll fix it! And odds are, I do know how to fix it because Iâve probably had to address it before.
But then Iâm acting âout of a womanâs placeâ by being so âhardâ and expecting people to listen to my authority. So in order to play a Black womanâs place, I have to balance that with⊠Somehow not intimidating people by being more âfeminineâ, submissive, vulnerable, sweet and motherly (because if Iâm not a good breeder and mother, I am a bad woman). I scare people if I donât. If I donât do that, then Iâm not a good Black woman. But if I donât harden myself and be strong and assertive to protect everyone, and tough through everyoneâs problems with infinite sacrifice, then Iâm not a good Black woman⊠You see how the cycle gets confusing! (The Delectable Negro and Black on Both Sides also speak on this, and how this is rooted in the creation of the Mammy!)
I spoke about it earlier, but that same inability to be defined as a human, defined as white, haunts many Black men in their goals to be seen as âequalâ to white men and receive equal treatment. By seeking to fit a standard of whiteness, they are never going to attain it (and often, that comes back home in not-so-good way)! E.g.: this is the original issue that Louis had in AMCs' IWTV- Louis never actually wanted to be a vampire, Louis wanted to be treated like an equivalent human- and that was unattainable to him not because he wasnât a human being, but because he wasnât a white one!
The Racist Counterproductivity of TERFs
Sigh. If you are of this belief, but here to better your writing, I feel like I should say this to you. I want you to listen to me. (TBH, Iâm going to delete anything asking me for opinions on this because I donât want to potentially entertain even a singular troll). Besides, my argument is pretty simple and resolute.
The gender binary is rooted in bioessentialism, and bioessentialism is rooted in white supremacy. You know what else benefits from white supremacy? The white patriarchy.
How are we gonna escape from the patriarchy and white supremacy⊠if the ideology you believe in⊠is rooted in white supremacy and patriarchy?
And itâs not just the TERFs- look within yourselves as well! How are we going to make the world safer for trans people, including white ones, if you arenât willing to confront your own racist biases? If you are unwilling to release the shackles of gender essentialism and the benefits of whiteness, none of us are getting out of here. You are reinforcing the very walls you wish to dismantle!
To offer another side of the conversation, Black On Both Sides by C Riley Snorton has been an interesting read! Essentially, the conversation is on how Blackness and transness intersect, how being Black in and of itself can be and is a transitional, gender fluid experience. It, along with The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould and Medical Apartheid by Harriet A Washington, goes into the history of how the Black body was seen as a different species altogether, and how phrenology, biological essentialism, and examples of sexual dimorphism were treated as an example on how we are an inferior group. Yet, this lack of understanding of our bodies (despite the constant access to it) allowed for us to maneuver within such a system.
An example, of how Blackness has an effect on our perception of gender:
"Cobb suggests that this blackening may have been an anticipatory gesture; when James Norcom (Jacobsâs enslaver) published a description of her in the 1835 issue of the American Beacon, he presumed that she would be âseeking whiteness and dressing as a free woman, not accentuating her Blacknessâ and finding a âcross-dressingâ and ungendered mode for escape. Although the description of sartorial arrangements seems to conform to passingâs logic of movement for protection or privilege, Jacobsâs use of charcoal to darken her complexion tropesâby inverse logicâon more commonly held beliefs (and fears) about racial passing.
As âpassingâ became a term to describe performing something one is not, it trafficked a way of thinking about identity not only in terms of real versus artificial but also, and perhaps always, as proximal and performative. Like a vertical line with arrows on either end, passing is figuratively represented by moving up or down hierarchized identificatory formations. This articulation of vertical identity also coordinates with forms of binary thinking, typified, for example, by the language of âthe oppositeâ sex. âŠBrent/Jacobsâs blackened blackness gives expression to her condition as fungible within the logic of U.S. slavery, in which the system of colorism, as Nicole Fleetwood has argued, âproduces a performing subject whose function is to enact difference . . . an act that is fundamentally about assigning value.â
As it relates to the scene of Jacobsâs brushing past Sands, her status as âitâ also indicates how blackness-as-fungible engenders forms of nonrecognition, as Jacobsâs performance elucidates how blackness and going blacker become an embrace of the conditions that might allow one to pass oneâs friends and lovers undetected. In this encounter, fungibility sets the stage for gendered maneuvers on a terrain constituted by modes of viewing blackness, in which Jacobsâs blackness and going blacker color her gender as well as her face."
The Black Trans/Nonbinary/Genderqueer Experience
Rather than try to summarize opinions on something I had not lived, I wanted to platform some Black trans, intersex, and genderqueer opinions for you all to consider! I asked three questions, and Iâve typed out the responses and placed them as their own post for the sake of space. I donât care if itâs long- read them! You want to write these characters; you should hear the perspectives of the people you wish to write about!
Black Trans, Intersex, and/or Genderqueer Perspectives To Consider!
As a precursor to the next lesson I have coming up soon, I asked on this
The Black Intersex Experience
Nothing I could say that someone that is actually Black and intersex couldnât say better!
Here is a page on Tumblr that compiles resources on the intersex community and its history that I found; while itâs not Black-specific, I have seen the page post topics related to.
The Black Aspec Experience
An interesting thing about identifying as asexual or aromantic while Black is that from all angles, people will simply not believe you because Blackness itself has been sexualized. I talked about this in my lessons on stereotypes, but one of the ways that the sexual assault and violation of Black bodies was dismissed, was to emphasize that not only were we incapable of being r*ped, but that we were naturally inclined to being hypersexual beings and that if we werenât controlled, we would bring it onto ourselves. Black women were jezebels; Black men were mandigos, vicious savages that would assault pure white women if not chained like beasts.
Here is a page for Black people (!!!) with these identities to gather. Again, BLACK PEOPLE with these identities. Here's another!
The Bit You Actually Showed Up For
So! Given all that historical and social context: really, itâs just about application! You have to ask yourself certain things to catch when youâre about to dip into a bias or stereotype while youâre writing.
Before writing that Black queer &/or trans character, ask yourself:
Another set of resources that I've typed up for my upcoming lesson. I'm
Black Queer Joy- A Conclusion
I know Iâve shared a lot of history here, and itâs not been the happiest stuff. THAT BEING SAID!
I must personally say- I am honored to be Black and bisexual. Thereâs nothing else Iâd rather be. I am so happy to be who I am. Itâs hard as hell living at the intersection, but the intersection is lit! Thereâs so much love, history, culture, creation, and so much power here; Iâm standing on the shoulders of cultural GIANTS and my chest is full, my chin is high with pride. I love it here!
Being Black and queer itself is not a miserable experience! Your characters should feel joy, because we feel joy! Thereâs so much that we have to offer the world, itâs practically blossoming from us. I donât want anyone to walk away from this going âlet me go pity the next one I see and tell them how hard their life isâ. We donât need you to feel sorry, we need you to have solidarity! Either show up and do the work, or leave us alone. You canât join the party at the intersection and then flee when itâs time to fight for it!
Listen to Black queer people in your spaces- dear god, it never fails how conversations of queerness and gender and feminism will leave Blackness completely out, and then be shocked when none of us want to show up. Like I said before- you will never dismantle the walls barring you from your own freedom until you address ours.
Support Black queer creatives, content, perspectives, and people- when you tag on that âsupport Black trans womenâ bit at the end of your posts, donât just speak lightly- understand what that means, and stand on it! Because itâs the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!
Bro, blocking someone and then using their tag like this is, all offence, weak as fuck. Like all you had to say was, na bro I don't promote pedo protags on this here blog, because I wholly agree with the premise of your argument given contexts (i.e., writing abusive relationships to show the evils, great; writing abusive relationships to show the romance, yikes).
This response is so, so comically shitty within the context of that tag, oh my god.
Something being nasty is not a good reason to ban fiction about it.
If we accept that "something being nasty is a good reason to bad fiction about it" then we give a foot in the door for all the people who truly, genuinely believe that queer people are nasty to ban all queer literature.
This is not about defending bad people this is about defending the freedom of good people from tyranny, you moron.
I think if you take it to its logical extreme. Say, banning people from writing stories of sexual abuse. That could then be said "well ANY talk about sexual abuse is bad."
And from that, you could ban books that talk about it irl. Or books like how to recover after being abuse. If its not something to be discussed AT ALL.
The fact that Iâve seen this post in some form on my dash like 100x and each time thereâs new idiots who do not get that you canât have *some* censorship.
Either youâre for it or you arenât.
The moment you agree that something should never, ever exist in fiction is the moment that anything can be banned.
Remember a while back how Tumblr banned a bunch of tags, including many popular innocuous ones that even people who are for censorship used and were upset about?
When censorship happens, stuff YOU like can and will be banned. Thatâs how it works.
Remember how a bunch of people had their accounts terminated here only last year for writing about their own sexual abuse?
When you ban âpedoâ topics, say, any talk of child sexual abuse in any form, that means people can no longer write about their own experiences. It means people cannot educate others so they can learn how to protect themselves or get help from these situations.
Censorship is authoritarian. Full stop.
Even if âeveryoneâ agrees something is âgrossâ and âshouldnât exist,â that does not fucking matter.
Do you know who generally believes queer people are gross and shouldnât exist??
The same people who are banning books left and right solely because they have queer characters or relationships.
The same people who attack and kill queer folk for simply exisiting.
This is not just some fandom matter or a case of being chronically online.
Protecting freedom of expression is essential, and if you do not get that, I donât know what to say to you.
And the people who keep bringing up child sex abuse as a reason for censorship are doing it very specifically because everyone feels like then they HAVE to agree with the person in favor of censorship.
Itâs not that there isnât widespread societal agreement on this. Itâs that they want you backed into a rhetorical corner where you feel compelled to agree with them.
Also, like, we KNOW how this shit shakes out in fandom because it's happened before.
In 2007, Livejournal capitulated to the "pedophilia and sex crimes!" cries of (hate group) Warriors 4 Innocence, and you know what communities got shut down? Slashfic communities. Sexual assault survivor support communities. Authors who'd written non-smut m/m fic even got caught up in it. It was DEVASTATING to fandom spaces. I think pretty much everyone knew at least one person whose account was literally DELETED, or were a member of a community that was wiped off the map because they were considerate enough to include topics like "sexual assault" or "BDSM" in the profiles under the badly-named category of "interests" to indicate that posts on said blogs or communities may include discussion of things like that. Even if it was for a SUPPORT group. And it was because a group of religious bigots came to LJ and said essentially "EVERYONE thinks it's gross and that it's promoting CSA, we should ban it."
Like, strikethrough and boldthrough were a large part of what propelled AO3 out of a more unfocused conversation on one person's blog about hosting a site INTENDED for fandom content, into being an actual archive and nonprofit. And it's a large part of why you won't find AO3 banning topics that you find "gross".
Censorship is authoritarian and it will ALWAYS have more collateral damage than you can imagine.
Going to add that fiction which had sexual abuse and communities which played around with it as a writing topic are the very things that protected me from irl sexual abuse when I was a teenager.
I was in a dicey situation, and realized that while my situation did not match up to any of the superficial or textbook cases mentioned in passing (if at all) through school, it matched up a LOT to what I'd learned about irl sexual abuse through works of fiction and the rhetoric of my communities. I got out of that situation and dodged what was, in retrospect, one hell of a nasty bullet.
If it hadn't been for that "nasty" fiction and those "nasty" communities, I would very likely have been abused, and subject to further violence spiraling out from that abuse.
I had a friend. We were 12. We had just discovered fanfiction and were obsessed. We read anything and everything we could get our hands on. One of the stories we read was a "pedo fic." It exposed us to scenarios and language that hadn't ever been touched on in Sex Ed at school or with our parents. To be frank, it "corrupted our young minds with topics we shouldn't have to deal with." It also gave my friend words to finally describe why her neighbor creeped her out so much. "He's creepy and weird" gets a 12 year old scolded and lectured on being nicer. "He's a sexual predator" gets adults asking questions and involving the cops. Her neighbor "moved away."
Censorship is pro-pedo and anti-child-safety. There is no communicating what's wrong if there are no words to describe what's happening. Bad things will happen whether you have the words to ask for help or not. Censorship takes those words away.
"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.
Personally I hate AI because it uses slave labor, is killing the planet and is making people stupid, but that's just me. The soulless art aspect is just one little piece of my grander disdain.
wait how does AI use slave labor? Do you mean the human works that are stolen and not credited or compensated? Because technically under capitalism everything is exploited but there are varying degrees
Aside from the scraping, AI tech companies, including openAI/chatGPT, have outsourced training their models to countries in the global south, specifically Kenya in openAI's case. These workers are working in sweatshop conditions for less than 2 bucks USD per hour. I'm on mobile, but if you search 'openAI Kenya slave labor' and related keywords, you can find multiple articles about it.
i genuinely hate the fact that being a sex worker is legal but paying for their services isnt.
and i was talking to my roommate abt it and she says it's to deal w trafficking but i don't see how it does. she also said that the majority of sex workers are trafficking victims and that the workers for whom it's just a job are a minority? is that true?
Hi, and thank you so much for your question!
This form of "legalized sex work" is known as the Nordic model and is actually not what sex workers want or advocate for! Sex workers push for decriminalization! Let's go over what the differences are!
The Nordic model:
"[aka] The Entrapment Model refers to the theory that criminalizing clients and third parties (e.g., managers) will reduce demand in the sex trade, thereby âfreeingâ sex workers, who are often seen as victims. This framework has vocal proponents among certain prohibitionist feminists, but its impact has been devastating where it has been implemented. Unambiguous data shows a clear correlation between laws that criminalize clients and an increase in violence against sex workers, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and exploitation within the sex trade. While the Entrapment Model may seem enticing in theory, itâs impossible to create a safe environment for sex workers and their clients when one side of the transaction is criminalized."
(source: https://decriminalizesex.work/why-decriminalization/#:~:text=The%20Entrapment%20Model%20refers,the%20transaction%20is%20criminalized. )
What can legalized sex work look like in practice?
"Mandatory registration with the government
as a sex worker
Licensing requirements for sex work
establishments and sex workers
Restrictions on the number of sex work
establishments allowed
Discriminatory zoning and location restrictions
dictating where sex workers can work,
excluding areas such as residential zones,
and areas near schools and businesses
Mandatory HIV and STI testing and treatment
in government health facilities
Restrictions on advertising
These regulations undermine sex workersâ human rights by restricting where sex workers can live and work, violating their privacy and bodily autonomy, and placing extra burdens on them which do not apply to other workers. In this way, legalisation does not treat sex work as a form of work like any other, but as a special form of work that needs to be heavily controlled and monitored
by the state."
"Decriminalizing sex work means that consenting adults who buy or sell sex are not committing a crime. With the decriminalization of prostitution, there would, of course, still be laws against trafficking, rape, violence, and sex work involving minors."
Now as far as the overlap between the number of sex workers and trafficking victims, it's important we know these terms are not interchangeable, and also why someone might be both a victim of human trafficking and choose to be a sex worker.
Definition of a sex worker:
"Sex workers include female, male, trans and gender diverse adults, and young people (over 18 years of age) who receive money or goods in exchange for sexual services, either regularly or occasionally."
Definition of human trafficking:
"Trafficking means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation."
Sex workers participate in selling of consensual sexual services, while victims of human trafficking are being abused.
This being said, some people who have experienced human trafficking do choose to become sex workers for many reasons, but even if their reason is linked to their past, consensual work does not equal abuse. There is no real way to know the exact number of overlap between these two groups of people, as collecting accurate data on either group is difficult to begin with, not to mention the conflation of the two muddies the waters further.
If you'd like more reading/resources on this here are more links:
Here are some helpful links, articles, and reference materials relating to sex worker rights and the decriminalization of sex work
The Entrapment Model, also known as the Nordic Model, or Equality Model, refers to the theory that criminalizing clients and third parties.
A white French man in his sixties pulled a riffle against Arab and Black children between 6 and 11 years old and run after them using lead shots against the children. He was scream âGet out Arabs and Blacks!â While running after the children and shooting. He ended up taking aim at a specific child, a 10 years old, and managed to hit his calf.
The children managed to get to safety when one of the neighbors (a black woman) heard them screaming and opened her door to take them to safety.
That man is known to be a racist piece of shit in the neighborhood. He kept on harassing an Arab neighbor until she moved because of him. The black woman who opened her door to the kids so they would be safe was called a âbaboonâ by the white piece of shit multiple times beforehand and he also attacked her 8 years old son by throwing sticks at the child. The day before the man shot the kids that same black woman went to the cops to report his racism and she was told to âcome back laterâ because they âdidnât have the workforce to take into account her complaintsâ. That man was also seen hitting a 3 years old Arab child with a stick. When a neighbor saw him and tried to stop him he insulted her because of her race. He removed a PUBLIC bench in the neighborhood because I quote him âtoo many Arabs and Blacks sit on itâ.
A couple days before attacking the kids with his riffle the man himself made a fucking video he posted in which he says âIâm racist and Iâm proud of being racist. I saw it high and loud.â
The Black woman as well as an other woman (she is the aunt of the child the racist managed to hit so she is either Black or Arab maybe both) say that they reported him multiple times but keep on being ignoredâŠ
On her end the mayor denies having been made aware of the issues beforehand but icing on the cake she says âI donât know if that man insults colored people more than White people. For me he is complicated with everyone.â So basically the mayor and the cops are trying to deny the racism because maybe he insulted white people too at some point. And shooting Arab and Black kids is âcomplicatedâ (I guess thatâs the new favorite word when supremacists attack Arab kids âcomplicatedâ just like Palestine.)
The cops are claiming that none of the victims or their parents mentioned racism and the use of slurs and insults.
Meanwhile the father of one of the victims (the child who has been shot) is saying that he did mention the insults and the racism and that the cops deliberately kept it out of the report. And that the cops told him âno need to mention it specifically as the man is already known to be racistâ. After the story got out in the media yesterday the father was called back by the police to take into account the racist insults targeting the children.
One of the mother in the neighborhood also said âHere, everyone knows each other, likes each other, and the children play together. I'm very worried. Racism has always existed. But now it's blatant. And what's frightening me is that the children don't really realize it; they laugh when this man insults them. They got used to it. But it's serious.â
