Dom Rosario on Deer Reading

    Our reading today discussed the ways in which the federal government has impacted and weakened the Indigenous community's justice system. The point that resonated with me the most in this essay was toward the end, when Deer states "Without and adequate system for resolution and healing, psychological trauma and victimization create a cyclical sense of despair and desperation- indeed, a very continuation of the colonization process," (39).
    In a great deal of GWS classes we learn of the different process of colonization and how it has had long lasting affects on different groups of people around the world. Reading this essay, it defiantly helps the argument that colonization is still very much alive, just in different forms. The United States government continues to use different tactics in an effort to keep Native nations reliant on them, which includes weakening their justice systems and forcing their own ideas of "justice" on the Native peoples. The United states has done this through implementing laws restricting tribal laws, imposing their own health care in which people are abused, and by continuously ignoring the violent crimes that occur while sipping tribal nations of their own justice systems.
     While the U.S government stripped tribal governments of their authority to handle what is seems to be becoming any crime, not just felony crimes, they rarely actually investigate crimes that are brought to their attention. It strikes me as a form of abuse and neglect that the government takes the right s of tribes to handle their own issues, but leaves them with nothing because they don't do anything to hold anyone accountable either. In essence, the U.S government is just letting criminals inflict violence upon Native women and children without any repositions, which makes them a larger target for others, which Deer discusses in her essay.
     These issues have been brought up again and again. In 2015, the U.S Supreme court agreed to hear a case in which a young Indigenous boy was assaulted by a white manager. The issue was whether or not the man was subject to tribal trial since it occurred on their land. Indigenous people are fighting to have their own trials and actually have justice since the U.S government ignore their issues and when they do actually do something, it is often ineffective in helping the victims heal.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bnpb73/native-american-women-are-rape-targets-because-of-a-legislative-loophole-511


My question is : How could the U.S government give Indigenous Nations back their sovereignty without completely destroying the nations? Do you think there are ways non-native people can aid in the fight for Indigenous people in their quest to regain sovereignty and fight the extremely high levels of violence?

Stamps_Marla_Federal Indian Law and Violent Crime_Blog 4

In Sarah Deer’s chapter, Federal Indian Law and Violent Crime, Deer addresses how tribal communities were stripped of their own autonomy. Because of this, tribal communities have become dependent of treaties and federal policies (33).

Before colonialism, tribal communities governed themselves. Colonizers impeded tribal communities and took control of them. One of the ways in which tribal communities were taken control of was through sexual violence. It made it easier for colonizers to take control of communities. According to one of the statistics Deer included, “native women are the most victimized population in the Unites States” (34). After colonialism, it appears that native American communities have adapted to the colonial culture. Sexual violence has become normalized within the community.

It seems that, after colonialism, power was not restored or given back to the tribal communities. And so, laws like the Major Crimes Act and Public Law 280, are dismantling the tribal community’s justice systems. The laws are slowly removing power from the tribal community to handle situations within their community. So, they are becoming more dependent on the U.S jurisdiction. Deer mentions that federal agencies place “tribal citizens at a high risk for victimization and violence” and “hire persons with a history of violence” (37). So, it becomes apparent that the federal agencies need to make major adjustments to help the tribal communities. Because even after colonialism, native women are still experiencing sexual violence and they are the most victimized.

After doing a bit of research, I found an organization called the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. The organization’s goal is to “create violence free communities.” I do not know much about the efforts of people trying to help tribal communities. It is not something one hears about, unless they actively look for organizations helping. This organization is mobilizing tribal communities to bring forth systematic change.And this is done through training to not only educate natives, but people who aren't native as well.    

https://www.csvanw.org

I guess something we could discuss in class would be how can we restore power within tribal communities without enforcing new laws upon them. I know that the obvious answer would be to withdraw policies or laws from the communities, but the U.S probably will not do that. 

Skin, Tooth, and Bone by Elvia

In the reading "Skin, Tooth and Bone" we are given what disability justice really means. Unlike how  most of the time organizers are calling anything disability justice in the article its defined as the text critical to their work, work and thoughts from disability justice activists, and the images they seek out and wrap themselves in. In other words Bones, Teeth, and Skin.

One of the main things the article tries to get across is that disability justice means getting to the root of disability oppression which is ableism. Ableism is the discrimination in favor of able bodied people which in turn creates this "other" group of people who are deemed less smart or capable. Thus putting able body people at the top of the hierarchy and everyone else at the bottom. This hierarchy is further divided into any one who is deemed dangerous, like people of color or any gender non conforming person. It just shows ability, race, and gender are intertwined when it comes to people being oppressed.

Throughout a portion of the article 10 principles of Disability Justice are discussed. Some things really stuck out to me like collective liberation and recognizing wholeness. In order to have disability justice we must come to understand that people with disabilities are whole people. They are humans no matter how society deems them and they are equally entitled to all their rights. The second thing that we must also take into consideration is that no one should get left behind because people with disabilities are multi racial, multi gendered, and mixed class. This all comes down to helping everyone and organizing together to make sure everyone gets their needs meet. This is something very important because as we've seen in other movements, like womens rights, we see women of color not being heard or excluded. That is why this movement is trying to make sure everyone is heard because they know not one solution or one group of people will benefit from change.

An online article I found in the Huff Post titled "6 Instances of Discrimination People with Disabilities Face Every Day" talks about discrimination of disable people that they face everyday in which us able people may not think about or take for granted. One of the big things that the author Tiffiny, talks about who is also disabled is that just because you are physically disabled people automatically assume you are mental disable. So they'll assume that since you are physically disabled you are not fully equipped to do simple things like buy your own groceries as the author described from personal experience. Another thing I never thought about was transportation specifically with taxis. They discriminate against people in wheelchairs by not picking them up since they just see it as a hassle they don't want to deal with instead of looking at these people as another paying customer that needs transportation. Everyday discrimination exists for people with disabilities and they need to heard and taken seriously.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tiffiny-carlson/discrimination-people-disabilities-_b_4509393.html

What can all of us do to help reduce the discrimination against disabled people in our everyday lives?

Nikhaule Martin of Primer

Nikhaule Martin
GWS 390




The violence against black and brown extends far beyond those who are able bodied. However, it is the violence against people of color with disabilities that have ignored for so long.

As mentioned in the reading ableism has a complex, and deep history within our heteropatriarchal, white supremacist, colonialist and capitalistic society. Ableism contributes to the many intersections of one’s identity, however, this intersection often goes unvoiced. Within large movements, conversations geared towards fighting for gender equality, fighting to end state violence, or fighting to end police brutality are always geared towards able-bodied people by other able-bodied people. Within the Black Lives Matter movement as I have experienced them personally, they are often times represented by people from marginalized groups who forget that even they speak from a place of privilege. Which is another criticism of the BLM movement.

Which is something that is both unsettling and intriguing. The BLM movement is a movement where being black is represented as a monolithic experience. When discussing state violence and police brutality the victims that are often times advocated for, are cisgendered, heterosexual, able bodied black men and boys. This narrative consistently, and constantly excludes both trans men and women and all members of the LGBTQ community, women and the disabled. Which always leads me to think how well can we counteract the violence committed against black and brown bodies if we are not discussing the violence that is committed against all black and brown bodies.

I have seen communities across Tumblr that have validated the voices of many that have gone silenced for so long. Tumblr has served as a breeding for the sharing of the voices of those who are disabled, while offering many educational resources to those who may be ignorant on the topic. Those who disabled and apart of other marginalized groups have taken the responsibility of voicing their own experiences, and should be validated by those who they have fought for.

Although, people have done a great job at sharing their stories what are some ways that mainstream movements can work to include the voices and perspectives of those who are disabled?

Skin Tooth and Nail

In Skin, Tooth, and Bone, Patty Bern and and Sins Invalid write about the 10 principles of disability justice. They provide clear guidelines for a motion around the assembly of agency and activism for the disabled justice movement.

One principle that I found to be most important in this section is ... There has been a long-time misunderstanding about what it means to be an ally in movements; it is often forgotten that the mobilization lies within the minority group and not within their more-privileged advocates. In the process of forming an activist platform, able-bodied persons have a habit of taking on the role of center of the movement and looking at it as an advantage for them, rather than a push toward the actual goal. This is what is often called the "White Savior" complex.

Another reason this principle stands out to me as one of the most important is because of what it entails- that disabled persons CAN help themselves- i.e. they aren't as helpless as we often simplify them to be. This is so vital to the movement, as it further encourages allies to step back and understand that their roles as allies is to provide support and back up those on the forefront, not to claim the movement as their own. The point of the movement is not to perpetuate a vision of disabled persons as helpless unmotivated/unable to mobilize. Rather, it is to turn more heads toward the need for resources in order for these groups to mobilize and be active independently AND interdependently.

This is a common theme within many, if not all, minority groups mobilizing around the world. In terms of international feminism, there is an issue around groups of South/Southwest Asian women who are fighting against colonial control and western racism along with intracultural problems and the western "feminists" who try to enforce their still-racist feminism. Rather than creating or encouraging more space for the assembly of Arab women activists.

What are some strategies we can adopt to ensure we are not overstepping our boundaries as allies to various minority groups?

picture:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=qxebWsi9E8Ts_QaJvKCABA&btnG=Search&q=arab+women+activist+organizations#imgrc=i5YbeA8YVEXKsM:

Undivided Rights

While reading selected chapters from Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize For Reproductive Justice the importance of language stands out as a central theme. In this blog post I will focus on the issues with the rhetoric of Pro-Choice and why Reproductive Justice is a more inclusive framing of the movement.

Women of color activists believe that Pro-Choice terminology is too narrow and is really only applicable to middle class white women. It invalidates and disregards women with multiple marginal identities. Choice rhetoric assumes that legality of abortion is all we need. However legality of an option does not make the option accessible especially when systems of oppression based on race and class are set in society serving as barriers. Legality is not enough.

A Reproductive Justice framing includes the fact that women’s reproductive issues do not include just the right to an abortion. Women should also have the human right to have a child. The Pro-Choice movement completely disregards that women of color have been systemically sterilized throughout history. Women of color are also affected by environmental racism, this affects indigenous women at a very high rate. Lack of healthcare information, coverage, and culturally competent providers serve as a barrier to reproductive health services. The mainstream Pro-Choice movement, and specifically white feminists like Margaret Sanger, who is often called the mother of birth control, used eugenic rhetoric to pass the legalization of birth control.

The importance of language and platforms addressed in Undivided Rights makes me think about the white feminist “pink pussy hats” at the women’s march for the passed two years. This is yet another example of cisgender white women dismissing the fact that not all vaginas are pink and not all women have vaginas! Similar to the Pro-Choice movement only focusing on white middle class issues such as legalizing abortion, White Feminists at the women’s march support only their own issues and then go to the extent of putting a pink pussy hat on Harriet Tubman, and then have the audacity to wonder why black women and other women of color do not “work” with white women or do not care about “women’s issues”.

https://www.racked.com/2018/1/22/16920814/harriet-tubman-pink-pussy-hat-women-of-color-intersectional-feminism

What are other examples of white women throughout history and in the present excluding women of color. How can we (other white women) intervene in these situations?

Alex Phistry on Undivided Rights

            Undivided Rights is a marvelously written piece that is bursting with critical information and background history on reproductive health, rights, and wrongdoings in the United States. One of the arguments made by the author is that there was a distinct difference between voluntary birth control for white, upper-class women and population control/forced sterilization for women of color.

            The author(s) argue that while African American women were supportive of birth control while still aware that it was used as a tool to promote and regulate white supremacy. While this makes me think of the saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” it also leads me to contemplate on how America has a long history of making things “too good to be true” only to pull the rug out from whomever they are deceiving. In this case, eugenics was the tactic used in order to weed out people deemed “unfit” for reproducing, ultimately leading to forced sterilization of nearly 100,000 people. It is important to note that the majority of people who were forcefully sterilized were people of color. It is no wonder that people of color have a history of opposition to family planning policies; especially due to these policies being used as a way to legally and covertly endorse the genocide of people of color.

            One of the other ways in which the United States deceived and manipulated people into believing population control was morally the right thing to do was by indicating that making birth control more accessible would “eliminate poverty,” (60). In doing so, the United States made people believe that in controlling population growth in areas where poverty was high, that there would be a drastic decrease in the overall poverty level. This tactic was clearly aimed at people, namely women, of color—which also indicated and perpetuated the idea that only people of color were affected by poverty. It also perpetuated the idea that it is women of color who are to blame for the high population and whose reproductive rights need to be regulated or controlled.

These unjust and immoral beliefs were so highly publicized that the same beliefs are still present in today’s society; and I believe it’s this history of a false belief system that continues to fuel racist/classist/sexist attitudes and behavior. In the government as well as upper-class, white people creating a new category of “other” in people (women) of color they have created animosity toward these people (the idea of “welfare queens”) by making them the objects of wrongdoings in society. This idea was beneficial to those belonging to the upper-class, white society in that it shifted public focus of the working and lower classes off the real wrongdoers, those rich people who were stealing or redirecting government funds to keep themselves rich, to those who genuinely needed funds or government assistance. This is just one example of the multitude of unethical actions/behaviors that are common to the American government and white, male, upper-class to shift angry focus from themselves to those more vulnerable subjects; this case being the lower-class and people (women) of color.