andythenerd:

TRUTH

logiccontroldeck:

Trans people of color avoid white trans people because we are not safe.

Take a moment and think about what that means. Think about how unsafe it is to be trans. Then think about how it would feel to not even feel safe amongst other trans people.

The next logical question is “How do we reach out and let PoC know our communities are safe?” right?

Wrong.

The next logical question is “how do we make our communities safe for people of color?”

The first step is hardest because it involves a lot of listening. We need to listen to people of color. I don’t mean go out and demand to be educated by the next non-white person you see. No. I mean we need to go the library and take out books by PoC, watch movies made by PoC. Follow tumblrs addressing racism that are written by people of color.

We need to learn the language of oppression as it pertains to PoC. We know the language of oppression as it pertains to trans or queer issues. We know exactly how deeply the cis-sexist and homophobic things cis/straight people say to us sear into our souls. We need to know what things we say hurt PoC and why.

Then we need to stop it. Stop it forever. We need to stop making excuses for screwing it up. As a trans person I always know when someone is misgendering me on purpose, out of ignorance, or as legitimate slip. I’m sure PoC know how we intend our words when we are racist, so don’t try to explain why. Just apologize and stop doing it.

After doing all that we will be ready to reach out to trans and queer PoC. Finally we’ll be able to reach out a hand that isn’t cupping ignorance. We will be able to reach out a hand that is the handshake of an equal, not a patronizing hand to “bring people of color up to our level”.

(via hellaheart)