Bi-Weekly Sexual Freedom Newsletter
Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Why Haven’t We Heard From Racial Justice Protesters in Their Own Words? (Jacobin) 

Habib Battah writes about selective media coverage of the uprisings: “When a North Carolina TV reporter attempted to film a group of protesters dragging statues honoring confederate soldiers through the streets of Raleigh earlier this month, many tried to block the camera with their hands and protest signs. At one point, a crew member pushed several angry protesters back with a tripod. [...] The scene is just one of several recent confrontations between activists and TV crews since the demonstrations erupted. Increasingly, these protests are being ignored by both national and local broadcasters; when they are televised, networks show little interest in truly exploring or understanding what motivates the demonstrators or the significance of the events sweeping the country.”
Read more.

Coded Language Is Part of Our Racist Education System (Teen Vogue) 

Zach Schermele discusses coded language in our education system: “According to some education activists, grit, a recently popularized term in the college admissions process, is one of many examples of what they see as the coded language of education. Coded language, as defined by the National Education Association (NEA), is language that ‘substitut[es] terms describing racial identity with seemingly race-neutral terms that disguise explicit and/or implicit racial animus.’ In practice, the concept is nuanced and subtle; for some educators, it’s an umbrella term for rhetorically placing value on the traits of marginalized students without understanding the challenges that gave rise to those traits.” Read more.

30 Years after the ADA, It’s Time to Imagine a More Accessible Future (Bitch Media) 

Anna Hamilton reflects upon the Americans with Disabilities Act and its shortcomings: “For instance, the number of buildings that remain inaccessible to wheelchair or cane users—and the issues around ‘historic preservation’ of older buildings—illustrate the legislation’s limitations. New technologies and economies regularly fail to consider disabled users: Transportation startups like Lyft and Uber have come under fire from the disability community for their overall inaccessibility and blatant discrimination. Although the breadth of and necessity for disability activism is starting to reach the mainstream—thanks in large part to the internet—there are still attitudes about disability that are rooted in ableism and long-held stereotypes.” Read more.

The Supreme Court Fails LGBTQ and Disabled Students in Ruling (Rewire.News) 

Lisa Needham shares the implications of the Espinoza v. Montana Supreme Court decision, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts: “The ruling takes the private sphere of religious views—that parents have the right to direct ‘the religious upbringing’ of their children and shoves it into the public, taxpayer-funded sphere. In his majority opinion, Roberts linked that right to raising children in whatever religious tradition you see fit with ‘exercis[ing] that right by sending their children to religious schools[.]’ It’s quite the leap in logic, and it bodes really, really ill. In fact, it’s the ultimate slippery slope.” Read more.

Veteran Black Panther: Links Between Capitalism and Racism Are in Plain Sight (Truthout) 

Yoav Litvin interviews artist and Black Panther Emory Douglas on the connections between capitalism and racism. Douglas says: “Police officers became psychologically affected by our representations of them as pigs. [...] However, people of all ages politely and accurately continued to use the term. It served to emphasize the gulf in trust between our communities and law enforcement. As a radical revolutionary organization, the [Black Panther Party] forced the mainstream political system to deal with basic quality-of-life concerns within the Black community. One such effect was a beginning of a process of inclusion into the capitalist system, including law enforcement, that has historically excluded us.” Read more.

Police Sexual Violence Is Hidden in Plain Sight (Boston Review) 

Anne Gray Fischer writes about how gender-specific violence is baked into the structure of policing: “Police sexual violence is hidden in plain sight. Grossly underreported and understudied, the scant research that does exist reveals that sexual violence at the hands of police is endemic to law enforcement, and that women of color—cis and trans—are especially vulnerable to it. This violence is possible in part because of the extreme power disparity that exists between targeted women and police, which at once enables such violence and shields officers from consequences. But police sexual violence is also possible because it is a legally sanctioned tactic of everyday policing.” Read more.