Overlapping oppressions and the gay pride parade today

I just saw an excellent guest post on the blog Stuff White People Do regarding the interconnectedness of multiple oppressions. It writes about famous Gender Studies professor Judith Butler refusing an award from an LGBT rights organization that's racist and anti-immigrant. I applaud Judith Butler for doing this, and it made me think once again about how LGBT rights groups have ignored other overlapping kinds of oppression.

Back in February, I wrote a guest post for that same blog about how the idea of gays as homogeneously white and wealthy is perpetuated. Months later, the stereotype clearly continues, but thank God Butler and others want to challenge such stereotypes and white gay racism itself. Additionally, I am writing about racism and classism after a long day of walking and watching the gay pride Parade in Chicago. The parade appears in a very gentrified neighborhood, around Wrigley Field and a host of other attractions, a neighborhood that I admittedly have supported by sometimes shopping in some stores there. Therefore, I think it would be hypocritical for me to attack the gentrification of East Lakeview/"Boystown," but I will admit that what disturbed me more was what Michel Foucault called the masking of power, which has much to do with power structures advancing business and profits and little to do with advancing all marginalized people's rights.

LGBT culture today has powerful allies in some corporations and other institutions--or so it seems. Many of these institutions are for wealthy clients, which means they can espouse any pro-LGBT message they want in order for it to add to their profits. That's not to say that there aren't any genuine pro-LGBT businesses out there. But many of those promoted in parades like the one today are for wealthy LGBT people only, which is not truly pro-LGBT rights when you think about it, since other LGBT people with less money are excluded. This also means that the stereotype of gay people being all white and wealthy is once again perpetuated.

And to be fair, there were some organizations at the parade that serve non-white, non-wealthy people, instead of just consumption of products some LGBT folks can afford. I was encouraged by organizations that were specifically affiliated with blacks, Asians, Latinos, and other groups. I was encouraged by the slogan I heard one organization say: "Power to the people, no one is illegal!" I was encouraged by multiple religious organizations that help LGBT people of different faiths hopefully find a sense of meaning in their faiths. I was encouraged by a couple of parade floats that encouraged sending a strong message to Democrats and Republicans alike that LGBT people are tired of waiting for their rights and that political independence is an option. I was encouraged by the presence of organizations like PFLAG that have strong histories of alliances with LGBT youth, for example.

But I was more than discouraged by the majority of businesses promoting their products with gay-friendly logos and slogans, but without advocating any real action, as far as I could tell, beyond consumption. I was discouraged, albeit less so, by the number of political candidates who likely have not (if in office) promoted, or will not promote, LGBT rights beyond election season.

And yet, I came home, checked some blogs, and found that Judith Butler and others are standing up against racism, classism, and xenophobia in addition to homophobia, transphobia, and patriarchy.

And I remembered, if we truly support LGBT people and the rights they deserve, we must support all LGBT people, not just a wealthy constituency therein. So as long as businesses support LGBT rights but not for people of color and immigrants, including LGBT ones; as long as white racism and owning-class classism are rampant in such communities as "Boystown"; as long as the voices of LGBT people of color are discounted in the service of continuing "the way things are"--as long as these things continue, we have a lot of work to do.

Personally, I may have to start by finding out where my money really goes, really consuming less, and researching what purposes the co-opting and assimilation of LGBT culture in wealthy society really serve.

And now I ask: what can you do, personally, and what can we do, collectively?

Summer 2010- read up to today- entry 7

Elijah Wald, How The Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, finished
Tim Wise, Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama, finished
"They Take Our Jobs!" and 20 other Myths About Immigration, Aviva Chomsky, to page 74

Wise's book was really short but useful, and Chomsky's book is a great fact-based look at the myths surrounding immigration and the law, race, the economy, and more. The rest of Wald's book is much like how I thought it would be, as written about in the last post: great for historians and experts, but not so much for general readers, despite good writing and solid conclusions.

First blog about life

At this moment I am writing because I'm having some trouble sleeping. I thought I'd start writing about my life and such, in addition to the reading I'm doing.

Today it POURED rain, and even with an umbrella, I got soaked. I walked to the Starbucks near my house, got a drink and a scone, sat for a bit without really doing much, and left a couple hours later.

For those that know me, you might know about the music I write. I'm trying to write a couple new songs, and I decided to resurrect my re-write of a Christina Aguilera song, from a couple years back. Will be performing that in the fall during my last semester at Earlham College.

I slept a lot today, and now, after the coffee and with some allergies, I'm awake at 2am.

I recently got trained as a volunteer at a local community center and am waiting to hear back about events at which they need help. With the seasonal job market not being great, volunteering will probably be my most regular commitment this summer, outside of a class I'm taking that starts in a couple weeks.

I'm writing some book reviews; I've written two so far for the fall column, but they are currently too short, likely, for publication.


Oh, and rant of the moment: when Brokeback Mountain lost the Oscar for Best Picture to Crash a few years back, why did people act like that was such a travesty? People acted surprised that the Oscars can be politically motivated. No offense, but... duh, they're politically motivated!

Anyways, moving on. I'm listening to some good mixes of various tracks, I have too much stuff checked out of the library, and I'm enjoying staying in touch with friends. And now to get back on facebook and post a status or a link. Later.

Summer 2010- read up to today- entry 6

Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why it Matters, 2008- finished
Elijah Wald, How The Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, up to p. 137

The Hip Hop Wars is incredible, perhaps even indispensable for those interested in hip hop and larger cultural debates surrounding it.
How The Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll seems more of an alternative piece of historiography than one of history--it points to larger assumptions made by traditional critics and historians about popular music, which makes it quite useful for those with a strong background in American music history. However, it so far doesn't seem as useful to general readers who might want a consumer's guide to "the greats" of American popular music; it takes up a much larger, more daunting task of attempting to reconstruct what people actually listened to at various times, and how they listened to it (like through recordings and other technological developments).

Contemporary Readings column- requesting your input

I am currently deciding on the books for my fall column on Contemporary Readings on History, Politics, and Culture. Feel free to suggest additional readings--I'm particularly interested in a new-ish book (2007-now) about class and economics, and possibly one about gender as well--but as of now, the books are:

The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--And Why it Matters, Tricia Rose
Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks, Bryant Simon
"They Take Our Jobs!" and 20 other Myths About Immigration, Aviva Chomsky
That's Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, ed. Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama, Tim Wise
How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, Elijah Wald
Judaism Does Not Equal Israel, Marc Ellis

Summer 2010- read up to today- entry 5

Tim Wise, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son- revised and updated edition, 2008- finished
Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why it Matters, 2008- up to p. 74
Michael Kimmel, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, 2008- up to p. 23

White Like Me proved quite an inspiring and useful memoir that I highly recommend. So far, The Hip Hop Wars is fantastic as well, an ambitious book that fairly assesses arguments about hip hop music and culture for their strengths and weaknesses. Guyland, at least from its introduction, seems that it will be far less revelatory than other literature I've read from Kimmel--specifically the essential essay, "Masculinity as Homophobia."