Race, Class, and Queer

When considering how race and class complicate the idea of queer, I cannot help but think about my all time favorite author, James Baldwin. One of his lesser known quotes "the world has three things against me, I'm black, gay, and ugly," has stuck with me from the moment I discovered his works.

Baldwin's life story is itself a struggle in the complications of race and queer. Baldwin, raised in the New York with an abusive stepfather, fled to Paris as an expatriate in his adult life to get away from the racial and homophobic tensions of the U.S. He wanted to be able to write as a person, not as a gay Black male. He found his courage to write in Paris and it was in his second novel Giovonni's Room that he felt free to openly depict homosexuality in his writing. Baldwin wrote about his perceptions of the political, racial, and homophobic climate of the U.S., and while this was over 40 years ago, his works are ever applicable to today's struggle with politics, race relations, and gay rights.


"Everybody's journey is individual.  If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy.  The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality." -James Baldwin

I could talk forever on Baldwin, he is one of this writers that touch your heart with every word you read. If you haven't had to read any Baldwin so far, I highly suggest it. 

Race and class truly divide our nation like nothing else, and that seems to be no exception in the queer community. The fact that there is even a need for a separate Pride celebration by race is damaging to the fabric of the queer community. Queer is truly the other in society, and needs to be able to break down those barriers created by society of race and class to band together as a strong coherent unit for rights to be themselves. By definition, race and class divisions are damaging to the unity of the queer community. 

The Fanon piece, while beautiful written, was hard to read. I appreciate the blunt realness the author is displaying to the ever judging audience, that takes a lot of courage. The part that touched me the most, and made me realize the reality race plays on even the most well-to-do and educated people was on page 116 about mid-way down. "Shame. Shame and self-contempt. Nausea. When people like me, they tell me it is in spite of my color. When they do not like me, they point out that it is not because of my color. Either way, I am locked into that infernal circle." The ignorance that comes out of the mouths of even some of the smartest people when it comes to race, astounds me. Just like gender, we as humans feel a need to label things, but unlike gender, the race labels have gone too far. Why should it matter what color someone's skin is, especially when they are your colleague, co-worker, or friend. The point of getting to know someone is to be able to understand them personally and emotionally, by constantly blocking someone into the race corner with such simple comments as Fanon describes, is hurtful and ignorant. 

The Allison piece was extremely touching, and hit close to home. It is always interesting to read about people growing up poor, I always thought I was poor growing up in the boonies with a single mother, but in retrospect, I didn't have it so bad. Allison's story is not surprising, like I have said previously in this post, society divides everyone by race and class with no exceptions. It is only when we can look past those "differences" that we will be able to accomplish anything outside of discussing race and class. On pages 27 and 28, Allison discusses her mama's sugar daddy and her own experiences with that type of relationship. I think that says a lot about class and relationships in general. The poor little bumpkin girl is always waiting for Prince Charming to come sweep her off her feet and take care of her every need no matter how crappy he may be. This is even perpetuated in pop culture, Cinderella and Reba's Fancy just to name a couple.

To sum this long and rather random post up, when society can get past out different colors of skin, and the amount of money everyone makes, we will then be able to raise up against the heteronorms of society and be free to be the original and unique people we all are.