Question #1 Marginalization of Blacks who are LGBT
A recent report by the American Center for Progress presented by Singh and Laura (2017) showed that LGBT people continue to experience discrimination and marginalization in different ways. One in four LGBT people experience discrimination. The situation is complicated where Black LGBT members are involved. The marginalize population of Black LGBT is vulnerable to micro-aggressions including racism and heterosexism. The progress toward LGBT equality made over the last decade has failed to yield sustainable solutions to the problems. The federal and most state governments lack explicit statutory non-discrimination laws to protect the LGBT community based on their sexual orientation and gender identity (Singh & Laura, 2017). Political leaders from African-American community express lack of support for laws and policies for the protection of Black members of LGBT community. The lack of laws and policies pave way for other forms of discrimination against the Black LGBT minority group.
The Black community is already disenfranchised in a host of socioeconomic and political discourses, and the discrimination of its LGBT members is a form of secondary marginalization. The voluminous research on the marginalization of Black LGBT community shows that it members suffer from hate crimes, racial prejudices, social stress, and mental health problems. They are also prone to violence, abuse, and discrimination. Black members of the LGBT community are more likely than other groups to loss promotion because of their sexual orientation. A significant proportion have also reported being fired from work, rejected by employers, and denied promotion (Singh & Laura, 2017). Beyond the workplace, Black LGBT members face discrimination that affects the quality of their lives. They experience difficulties accessing education and engaging in the public life. Marginalization and discrimination of members of Black LGBT community are significant contributors to the widening gap in inequality among minority groups.
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The injustices suffered by Blacks who are LGBT within their social units fall under the 21 st problem referred to as marginalization by the marginalized race (Harris, 2009). The phenomenon is founded on racism, homophobia, and heterosexism, problems that are prevalent in communities of black people. Harris (2009) linked the problem of marginalization of the marginalized to the ideals of the Black Church that view Blacks who are LGBT to be in contravention of the norms expected of members of the African-American and Black community. Members of the Black community demonstrate high level of intolerance for same-sex marriages, and African-American leaders are reluctant to engage in active pursuit of public support for LGBT members of the Black community. The trend exposes LGBT members of the Black community to injustices.
Accusations of discrimination have always been prevalent within the LGBT community. The acronym, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, was coined after the latter three fought for inclusion into what was initially the gay community. Nevertheless, discrimination within the LGBT community continues unabated. Subsets of Black LGBT men have been accused of perpetrating forms of casual discrimination including weightism and rejection of femininity. Within their community, the intersectionality between race, sexuality, and cultural norms exposes LGBT members to discrimination. They suffer from low socioeconomic status, racial segregation, internalized homonegativity, and stigma. These factors expose them to increased risk of HIV and STIs, poor mental health, and substance use. It is evident that the groups under the LGBT umbrella have significant differences and tend to direct prejudices towards each other.
Question #2 Impacts of Historic Trauma as Depicted in the Film “The Night Tulsa Burned”
The Film “The Night Tulsa Burned” highlights the painful memories that members of the Black community in the US contend with when reading or reviewing their history. The film portrays the worst ever outcomes of racism to which colored people have been subjected to throughout the history of human civilization. Critics of the film contend that it raises questions about racial violence whose answers remain elusive to date. As a result, survivors, families of the victims, and members of the Black community continue to be haunted by the events depicted in the film. According to Brown (2018), the mass graves at the Oaklawn Cemetery are a constant reminder of the racial violence meted by white racists on the people of color. The film recounts the events that occurred for days in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tusla, Oklahoma, starting on the 31 of May 1921. During the incident that has been dubbed the Tusla Race Massacre, or the Tusla Race Riot, a white mob attacked Greenwood leaving at least 300 black people dead. Another 10,000 were left homeless, and 40 blocks were burned (Brown, 2018). The film brings to life the traumatic experiences of survivors as they recounted the tragic incident where bodies were dumped into trains, thrown over the bridge into Arkansas River, and tossed into mass grave. The incident continues to elicit mental anguish among survivors, families, and the Black community in general.
The film shows semblance of the events during the Tusla Race Riot to Jim Crow’s lynching at the Mississippi. Millhiser (2015) observed that during the sentencing in a recent case involving a lynching similar to those during the era, the presiding judge lamented about the memories revived by the incident. He observed that it was an outcome of “toxic mix of alcohol, foolishness and unadulterated hatred that caused these young people to resurrect the nightmarish specter of lynchings and lynch mobs from the Mississippi we long to forget” (Millhiser, 2015, par. 4). The Tusla Race Riot and the Mississippi lynching illustrate the existence of unhealed mental wounds among members of the Black community. The fact that they have been victimized for being black, and killed for the same is traumatic at the very least. Black communities in Mississippi and Oklahoma continue to live in fear of similar incidents recurring. Thinking about potential victimization impairs their willingness to engage in public discourses. Moreover, knowledge of the historic events creates animosity between members of the Black community and their white neighbors. The resultant tension enhances the trauma among those affected by these historic events.
References
Brown, D. (2018). They was killing black people’. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/09/28/feature/they-was-killing-black-people/
Harris, A. C. (2009). Marginalization by the marginalized: Race, homophobia, heterosexism, and “the problem of the 21st century”. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services , 21 (4), 430-448.
Millhiser, I. (2015). The brutal, Jim Crow-Style lynching that recently took a black man’s life in Mississippi. Think Progress. Retrieved from https://thinkprogress.org/the-brutal-jim-crow-style-lynching-that-recently-took-a-black-mans-life-in-mississippi-b6c3f95b3bc/
Singh, S., & Laura, D. (2017). Widespread Discrimination Continues to Shape LGBT People’s Lives in Both Subtle and Significant Ways. American Center for Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2017/05/02/429529/widespread-discrimination-continues-shape-lgbt-peoples-lives-subtle-significant-ways/
