March 04, 2005 - 12:51 p.m.
nothing boils my blood like hearing an individual who is, themself, part of a visible minority or oppressed/marginalized group spouting hate speech.
example: walking down Yonge Street and hearing an African-American man scream "fucking faggots".
you'd think that a shared history of oppression would give people some sense of insight into the experience of being discriminated against... unfortunately, people tend NOT to make the logical connection between interlinked systems of oppression.
sad.
it breaks my heart that I see racist queers, transphobic lesbians, people with disabilities who are bigots, people of one faith group attacking another, patriarchy and oppression of women upheld by gay men, straight men, men of colour... the examples and combinations are too numerous and all make me want to hurl.
Hate-filled people heaping that hatred upon other marginalized individuals, groups, beliefs, lifestyles...while the majority continues to push out the radius of "normal"... pretending to breed tolerance of diversity by simply naming it... we continue to define the "ab" in relation to the "normal", the "minor" in relation to the "majority", highlighting the fact that these divisions even exist, and persist because we continue to oppress other people who are also opressed.
and this is not a contest. there is no medal for "most" oppressed. yet, we carry our own chips on our shoulders, ready to cast onto someone else... weigh them down just a little bit more so that we can stand a fraction of an inch taller.
sad strategy.
my favourite thorn-in-side memory... a punked-out, pierced and angry teenager picketing the London gay pride parade... waving his hand written sign... "proud to be normal". ever tried walking into a variety store? applying for a job? talking to a police officer?
yeah, yer real normal.
why can't you see the cycle you're feeding into? what's so great about being normal anyways?
that it gives you the right to heap all your insecurities, fears and anger onto someone else?
How does a normal person sleep at night?
