The Equality Zero-Sum Game Round Whatever

[browngirl]

[More US politics.] I know this is a matter of perspective, but sometimes it seems that conservatives are so good at pulling together while liberals are so good at infighting.

So I've been lying here reading the Internet's reactions to this week's US political news. Having seen it recced a couple times I read the often wise and estimable ursulav's post "Rain On My Parade And I Will Cut You". This essay is the most eloquent expression yet of an attitude I've seen around and really disagree with, that Senator Davis and her colleagues' and supporters' courage in Texas and the victories of overturning DOMA's Section 3 and Prop 8's death are more important than the loss of the Voting Rights Act. (To say nothing of the debacle in Ohio.) [Personal note: It doesn't help that some of the people in the comments are people whom I've seen support feminism and turn around and excuse racism, but that's about my personal reaction, not what I think we should globally do. Back to that.]

As I pointed out in my comment, "considering how the Voting Rights Act being defanged endangers these laudable instances of progress (Senator Davis nearly lost her district due to the gerrymandering that is now legal, and due to it Rep. Tim Huelskamp is likely to gain more like-minded colleagues to support his proposed anti-same-sex-marriage amendment to the US constitution) it seems kind of counterproductive to celebrate those victories by declaring the pointlessness of concern about the VRA. It makes sense to me to be worried about the stability of a new patio built on eroding ground." [The last line is a reference to the essay's central metaphor.]

So I may get cut indeed, or I may get ignored (that happens a lot when one points out intersectionality). But it makes me sad to see a victory getting used as a reason to ignore a defeat, especially one that endangers that very victory.

And it makes me think about the common complaint about liberals that we fight amongst each other. I may well have done that myself by disagreeing publicly with Ms. Vernon: I AM delighted by the decisions against DOMA and Prop 8, and I am awed by and admiring of the Texas Senators' stand, with thousands of women of Texas standing with them. I do think we should celebrate.

But I also think we should not forget or dismiss other struggles. For my part, I can't support one thing if it means I have to betray myself to do it. Many people pleased with these political successes think that the VRA decision doesn't matter because racism is over and/or because even if it isn't the VRA decision will only affect people of color/people in the South/other groups they don't belong to. For one thing, that supposition is not true: issues of voting suppression have popped up all over the country and across class lines and urban/rural lines as well as racial ones (my friend sageness wrote an excellent description of gerrymandering in Texas.). However, even if it were... being a woman of color myself I can't and won't dismiss the VRA decision as unimportant (also, as I pointed out above, it endangers these victories).

So what am I to do, then? Should I keep quiet in the name of liberal unity? Or does it make sense to ask my fellow liberals to remember that even issues that aren't personally important for them are still important? (And I'm reminded here that one of my many reasons for supporting marriage equality is that I want the issue settled like it should have been long ago so that people can't use it as a reason to ignore other issues facing LGBT people, such as the dreadful hatred and danger transgender people face just for existing or the fact that it's not illegal in many states to fire someone for being LGBT. These issues of equality matter beyond our own groups, our own skins.)

Comments

[songquake.livejournal.com]

I think that the thing that has pissed me off with the timing of the SCOTUS decisions is that there really is a divide-and-conquer thing going on. Because the timing of the two mean you read it all together, and it forces those of us who strongly believe both in the need for the VRA and the need for an anti-DOMA (which wasn't entirely struck down, thank-you) to try to choose between panicking and celebrating. Because it IS really hard to hold both impulses at the same time.

The word for feeling both these things at once is "overwhelmed", and the vast majority of folks will necessarily choose to focus their attention on one or the other.

And I haven't been able to celebrate Wednesday's decisions in light of what happened on Tuesday.

In a lot of ways, it feels to me like the so-called pro-gay decisions on Wednesday were timed to distract us from what came the day before. That since each of us has only so much energy/attention, AND because we DO need to celebrate sometimes (in order to survive), the timing of the gay stuff after the racist stuff serves to distract us from the fact that SCOTUS is in effect saying that racism no longer affects voting rights. Which is total bullshit.

(The Wendy Davis thing--I don't like lumping it in with the SCOTUS mess because it came about separately if concurrently. There's simultaneous joy and tragedy in the same cause, there.)

I'm reminded also of the fact that racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia/classism are not just questions of intent but of effect. And the admonition not to harsh others' squee can have racist/etc. effects, even when someone's "heart is in the right place."

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I am running out of steam, but I just wanted to thank you for this, because yes and yes and also yes. You've described several issues I was struggling to articulate, especially the 'divide and conquer' issue. Thank you.

[gingicat]

"I think that the thing that has pissed me off with the timing of the SCOTUS decisions is that there really is a divide-and-conquer thing going on. Because the timing of the two mean you read it all together, and it forces those of us who strongly believe both in the need for the VRA and the need for an anti-DOMA (which wasn't entirely struck down, thank-you) to try to choose between panicking and celebrating. Because it IS really hard to hold both impulses at the same time."

YES THIS A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

So much. And... gah. Am I falling into that divide-and-conquer to insist that the VRA decision is also important? Should I acquiescently shut up about it in favor of celebrating the DOMA decision? But if I do aren't I agreeing that one kind of bigotry is more worth fighting than another? And so around and around I go.

[gingicat]

No, no, I think we need to be concurrently loud about all of it.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

This. (-: