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

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

I think you're misreading ursulav's post. She isn't saying that Davis's filibuster and DOMA and Prop 8 being overturned are more important than the VRA; unless I'm misreading her post, what she's saying is that we should be allowed to take a moment to thoroughly enjoy the good stuff that happend, before returning to the fight. I mean, this is what she says:

Tomorrow we will pick up the shovels again.

Give us one damn day to cheer.

THAT said, okay, we've had our day to cheer. You're absolutely right about the VRA being a horrific loss. So let's pick up the shovels.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

You're the severaleth person I trust to say I read her post too critically, and honestly in this case I wouldn't mind being wrong -- it hurt to think that someone as wise and influential as Ms. Vernon was saying we shouldn't care about something I find very important.

ETA: though, I was thinking about this, and... part of my context for reading her post is how dismissive many proponents of women's and LGBT rights are of racism -- those of us caught at the intersections can find us in the uncomfortable situation of being told that one oppression we suffer is worse than another. I have been thinking about, if I were a feminist who saw nothing wrong with racism, if I would feel vindicated by her post.

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

Is that fair to her, though? I mean, I absolutely agree that intersectionality is a major issue that entirely too many people just don't seem to comprehend. But I don't see this particular person saying that racism isn't as bad as homophobia or misogyny. I definitely have seen other people say that, and variations on that theme, but not in this particular instance. Granted, I'm coming at this as a straight white woman, but all I see Ursula saying is that we can take a day to celebrate our victories, and then go back to work.

I'm not saying you're wrong because you're NOT. I'm just not sure Ursula's post is the right one to single out as an example. (And I say that as someone who does not know Ursula at all. For all I know, it IS what she thinks, but I don't see it in that post.)

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

No, or rather yes, that's fair to ask. One of the points of this post is that I wanted people's opinions on if there was an instance of that pattern here, and several people, including you, don't think there is.

... that said, I think pointing out the context of her post is indeed fair. Not that I want to get into a line by line reading, but when she cited "But the Voting Rights Act!" as one of the things people said that harshed her squee... it's as if she couldn't even see why people might have a problem with that decision, you know? And in the context of many people saying "feminism is more important than racism" or "gay rights is THE new civil rights movement..." What we say fits into a context.

I keep going back and forth on this, because I see why people think my reading goes too far, but I also still see why I read it the way I did.

ETA: I think lavendertook may be explaining it better than I could. She spelled out part of the intersectional issues that bugged me but which I wasn't articulating well.

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

I guess ... I read it differently. My interpretation was that bringing up the VRA was going to harsh her squee precisely because what the SCOTUS did was so awful. Not that it's less important. But I don't want to argue because, like I said, I don't know her. I have no idea what she's really thinking. On my third read, I think her language was pretty harsh. (It "galls" her? Seriously?) So I could be wrong. And okay, we've had our day or two of celebration, so now it's time to get back to work.