In case you’re unaware, there’s been a lot of talk around the human compost heap that we call Kim Burrell, thanks to a recent “sermon” she gave, laced with homophobia.
Kim Burrell: “If you, as a man, open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face…YOU ARE PERVERTED!!!”
Me: pic.twitter.com/C5saZe8LxG
— Bishop C.D’z. Cakez? (@angryblackhoemo) December 31, 2016
And her timing was fascinating, considering she’s apparently supposed to be appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’s show in a few days. So because of that, many people have been expressing their anticipation of what Ellen will have to say in addressing Kim’s homophobic comments. Many essentially want Ellen to drag Kim to hell and back. And, well…first, just so we’re perfectly clear: Kim Burrell is trash…fuck her, fuck her life and fuck this warped version of a “god” that she claims to speak for. In fact I’d love to start out this new year with Kim, and all other homophobes like her, finally downing that pint of Clorox. But here’s the deal…
I don’t care what Ellen DeGeneres has to say about Kim Burrell. In fact, I don’t care what any white gay has to say about homophobic Black folks, period.
First of all, white people—gay, straight, bi or whatever else—are inherently incapable of addressing problematic and/or trash Black folks without racism taking center stage. When white people go at problematic Black people, their commentary pretty much always lacks any real substance or nuance. This is a systemic byproduct of a white supremacist society. Their disdain for Black people is often rooted in anti-Blackness, first and foremost, because white people are socialized to see Black people in terms of race, first and foremost (and no amount of empty, “I don’t see color” rhetoric will undo this basic fact). Unless white people are very intentional and diligent in pushing back against this (and the vast majority aren’t), this shapes much of their critique around us. What usually ends up happening is, the problematic behavior is used as their excuse to air out their anti-Blackness.
Example: Azealia Banks…notice that, anytime her name has come up for her problematic behavior, you won’t see her being discussed among WhiteGayze™ without a hearty dose of any form of misogynoir one can think of. I believe this is why so many us Black LGBTQ folks have felt obligated to protect people like her (even to our own detriment) for so long….white people inserted themselves into the conversation, coated it with all kinds of racism, and that took center stage.
ngl…the MAIN reason it took me so long to sour on folks like Kanye & Azealia is b/c most of my discourse around them was w/ white ppl. ??? https://t.co/w1m7DJihvp
— Bishop C.D’z. Cakez? (@angryblackhoemo) November 20, 2016
And we know that any anti-Blackness that we allow to go unchecked among WhiteGayze™, even if directed at a homophobic asshole, will come back to bite those of us who sit at the intersection of Queerness and Blackness. I’m not interested in seeing homophobia be checked at the expense of giving anti-Black attitudes a pass…especially not when it doesn’t have to be an either/or.
Also, this desire, or even need, that some have for Ellen to chime in speaks to the mentality that our issues only hold weight when white people give them attention. We continuously place white platforms and opinions over Black ones without even realizing it…despite the fact that Black folks are far more qualified to actually speak on them (more on that in a minute). That feeling of our issues having legitimacy, now that a white person with a huge platform is acknowledging them, ultimately feeds back into white supremacy. We’re well overdue to examine why we continuously give so much space to whiteness in our own conversations (mildly related to an issue I go into in a previous post).
Additionally, and probably most importantly, this erases Black LGBTQ folks. We’ve been most vocal and articulate in addressing people like Kim Burrell and all of the LGBTQ-phobia among Black folks just fine, for as long as it’s been an issue. But, again, people don’t wanna acknowledge that because we don’t hold Black opinions with as much weight as white ones (even more so when said Black opinion isn’t male, heterosexual and cisgender)…even when it’s about our own communities and our own issues. Statistically, LGBTQ hate crimes are most likely to be intraracial. WhiteGayze™ are far more likely to experience homophobia from other white people than anyone else. And they don’t experience, or even see, the many systemic factors that feed into LGBTQ-phobia in Black communities as intimately as Black LGBTQ folks do. So what ability do they even have to properly speak to the nuances and systemic issues that feed into homophobia among Black folks?
And not to mention, white people, in general, have no fucking room to talk…and Ellen, with her own history of being problematic (and refusing to own up to it), is certainly is no exception to that.
Ultimately, the ideal approach to addressing homophobia among Black folks is for people like Ellen, and other white LGBTQ folks with a platform, to extend space to Black LGBTQ people to speak for ourselves. But WhiteGayze™ seldom, if ever, do this because white. So, here we are.
Granted, with as much harm as homophobic Black folks willfully and constantly put on us, I’m not all that invested in protecting Kim (because self-care), and if this is something that you feel invested in seeing happen, that’s on you. I just know I’m not interested in what WhiteGayze™ have to say about something that’s more specific to us as Black, Queer folks. There’s plenty of homophobia going around from white people that they’re more that equipped to speak against. But when it comes to Black issues, they don’t have the range…and their Queerness doesn’t magically grant them said range.
Not their place. Not their lane. They can keep their half-cocked “opinions” on us, as far as I’m concerned.
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