Trans Woman Attacked At Baltimore McDonalds
by Cynthia S. Wright
The recent attack of 22-year-old transgendered woman, Chrissy Lee Polis in a Baltimore McDonald’s has struck a nerve within the conservative right part of society but for the wrong reasons. Polis was attacked as she attempted to enter the Ladies room, which the two assailants didn’t agree with. At
This is what it's about - not race!
first, the attack wasn’t being classified as a hate crimedue to the fact that Polis wasn’t known to be a transgendered woman. It instead incited those (the conservative right, of course) that felt it was another instance of blacks using a “thug” mentality to bully an unsuspecting white woman because she happened to be white woman in a predominately black populated restaurant in a black part of town.
Of course, the Caucasian part of the conservative right wasting no time in jumping all over this – like, well, white on rice. The Free Republic website alone seems to echo those that are aligned with the conservative mentality that blacks are basically feral creatures that can’t be trusted.
Commenter Slump Tester weighed in about his disgust, glossing over the fact that this case happens to specifically about transphobia within the black community and not about race.
“Let’s all be sure to call McDonalds Corporate to let them know we saw their latest commercial! 1-800-244-6227, 7 days a week, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. CST I asked them if it’s standard procedure for an employee to film stuff like that, and then tell the perps to leave before the cops arrive, and if that’s the kind of people they hire. How long before the thugs will be hitting folks with bricks, and singing ‘You deserve a brick today’? “
Another poster, raygunfan pushed the sentiment even further, “…victim isn’t the right color, if it were the opposite, two white beating down a black tranny, this would have Jesse and co. flying in with a coterie of press sycophants…”
The Free Republic is not the only one echoing the same sort of sentiment, the Cobalt SS network weighed in with some of their thought processes. Member Whyyoumadson commented:
“Thats why a white guy cant hit a black guy…its a hate crime and they are trying to sue everyone and jesse jackson has to get involved. but if a black dude hits a white dude its all good and who cares 3 quarters of the time. I mean not eveywheres like that but in Chicago thats how it seems almost ALL the time.”
What the two assailants did was wrong, plain and simple, race notwithstanding. The assault had nothing to do with Polis being a white female; this was a hate crime. The two females, one being only 14, not only beat Polis but the abuse was so bad that she had seizures and no one – outside of a white, elderly woman – extended a hand. Even though, the conservative right would like to say this was all about race – those in the know – realize that this would have happened if the victim were black – the issue the attackers had with Polis was over feeling that someone (no matter how the person classified themselves) that was born a man was entering the ladies restroom. Not only that, but if the victim were a black, trans woman she wouldn’t be given the same amount of press because like most things involving black society – if it isn’t about painting blacks as negative, it is best that it is kept hidden.
Should people be angry over Polis’ beating in a McDonald’s restaurant? Should we be angry that employee, Vernon Hackett filmed it and then got it posted on World Star Hip-hop? Yes, we should – it is disgusting and it is tragic that someone wasn’t extended the common courtesy of using a public bathroom because of the attackers homophobic views on the subject. The fact that no one jumped in to help her shows again how much homophobia runs rampant in the black community. Still, at the same time, this is not a race derived crime – the conservatives and racists need to point their fingers at another story altogether because all this shows is how little they care to research the issues surrounding transphobia and urban society.
What we need to do is address those that feel it is okay to treat LGBTQ people in this manner, no matter who they are (including schools, the black church, and the conservative minded families) and examine why some of black society feels this type of injustice is okay. We need to fix that, instead of focusing on the race of the victim when it is not about her race but her sexuality.
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