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Ladybug's Political Smackdown

by Cathy Brennan

Friday, 04 May 2012

On Bullying, and Being Nice

“Bullying” as a political issue has gained much traction in recent years, with suicides of GLBTQ youth paving the way for a campaign to protect youth. Such a campaign is a worthy endeavor, as bullying – aggressive behavior in which the Bully, through force or coercion, habitually targets a victim, who usually has less power than the Bully or who may be otherwise “different” from the bully – harms children.

Unwedging the Wedge

Recently, the GLBT community has expressed anger over the strategy of the National Organization for Marriage to drive a wedge between African Americans and the gay Community. An exhibit from litigation in Maine reveals tactics to derail marriage equality, including “sideswiping” Obama by “exposing” him as a “social radical.” It’s unsurprising that NOM would target a president who has done more for the GLBT community than any other president. It’s equally unsurprising that NOM would also identify discrete ethnic and racial groups for targeted outreach. NOM’s “Latino Identity Project” intended to ensure that support for marriage would remain “a key badge of Latino identity” and “a symbol of resistance to inappropriate assimilation” of Latinos into (allegedly) “Anglo culture.” But it’s NOM’s “Not a Civil Right Project” that garnered the most attention, as it blatantly established a strategy to drive a wedge between gays and blacks by “provoke[ing] the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing [African Americans] as bigots.”

Name the Problem

In February, George Zimmerman – a male adult – murdered Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old child. Much has been written –rightly so – raising questions about race and racism in the murder itself and the subsequent lack of prosecution. A noteworthy piece by my friend Meredith Moise takes this analysis a step further and challenges us to consider how our views of race and our internalized racism impact how GLBT People prioritize issues in the GLBT Community. Others have specifically examining the history of accepted, often state-sanctioned race-based violence by whites against blacks. Trayvon’s murder has also spawned numerous confessionals by white people professing their racism and apologizing to black people. Anecdotally, most of the confessionals (which perhaps do nothing to fight structures that perpetuate racism) appear to be from white females. It should go without saying that racism is a cancer that we all must work to eradicate – but I will say this again. Racism has no place in a democratic society. Moreover, all white people – including me – have internalized racist views and should confront and challenge those views, early, often, and repeatedly.