Taking a Clue: A Response to the 'OPD Deaths' Letter in the Bay Times

So, sorry to write basically the same letter over. I wish that the guh-gay media would stop printing racist drivel so maybe I could churn out something besides a trying-to-be-level-headed moderate letter. But alas, the Bay Times printed the single most poisonous, racist piece of writing I have ever seen in any newspaper in my life written by a dude named Don Denver, claiming to be a social worker. It strikes me as too fucked up to subject anyone to directly on this blog and the Bay Times conveniently does not have it posted on their site.

After a an almost conspiracy-theory ringing rant against all black residents of Oakland, Denver closes his missive with "To our general society: Quit hogging the limelight and get off of the stage--to the Christians, Jews, women, people of color, etc.--alone--whose tired movements are choking the life out of the Queer Civil Rights Movement: Your holocausts are over--embody the common decency to let the Queer Movement breath and grow. You are a part of us--not the sum total of us!"

What "Queer Movement" is he talking about? The one of 54-year old white gay men washed-up fake social workers?!

Here was the response:

To the People at Bay Times:

I am writing because I am very alarmed over your decision to print the the letter "Deaths of Oakland Cops" by Don Denver in your March 26th publication. First of all, this is the single most venomous, racist piece of writing I have ever seen in print, and I am especially surprised to read this sort of hate speech in a paper serving the LGBTQ community.

Further, as a person working within social services in the Bay Area, I am very concerned that anyone would use their degree to try to lend professional credibility to this sort of writing. Social workers are meant to regard people with respect and humility, not pretend their professional work gives them the insight or the right to make racist generalizations. In his rant blaming black Oakland residents for nearly every social problem and dismissing institutionalized racism as a form of delusional self pity that supposedly is getting in the way of "legitimate" civil rights movements, Denver hardly seems stable enough to be practicing in the field of social work. In fact, a search for his name with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences turns up no results. Publishing this piece of writing, especially without checking into his claims around his professional identity, was a grave mistake.

Finally, while I wish his letter could be dismissed as an off-the-cuff rant, it unfortunately repeats (albeit in the most extreme form in print) the racism that has emerged from so many proponents of marriage equality in the aftermath of proposition 8. Reagon-era rhetoric about gays seeking "special rights" emerged alongside the demonization of mothers on welfare during welfare "reform," the war on drugs, and the increasing incarceration of poor people and people of color all of which had harmful effects on millions of American familiies. Rather than recognizing a need to work together to respond to the pathologization of all families being denied the protections they need to survive--whether it be through increasing incarceration, immigration status, or denial of marital rights--the movement for marriage equality has too often bought into the Reagon-era logic that asks us to judge whose needs are legitimate. Valueable opportunities to work for the protection of all families have been lost within these debates about who "actually deserves" rights and protection, leaving too many with the impression that the movement for marriage equality is separate or ( in the case of people like Denver) even at odds with struggles for racial and economic justice.

Denver's letter was published the same week that your front page announced CUAV's intent to refocus its mission to build LGBTQ communities free from violence in a way that takes into account the impacts of criminalization and incarceration on our communities. While one of the oldest queer organizations in the Bay Area has recognized this as a vital time to center racial and economic justice in building a strong and healthy LGBTQ community, your choice to print Mr. Denver's letter is sorely out of pace. While Mr. Denver's missive is shocking in its extremity, it only uses the same rationale those of us who read queer media have been overexposed to this year. I want to ask you to take seriously the work and analysis being generated by leaders within the LGBT community, like the folks and CUAV, and consider the divisive and harmful impact of giving even more air time to the sentiments expressed by people like Denver.

Sincerely,
Adele A. Carpenter