“This is why we can’t catastrophize at this moment, because catastrophization is white supremacy,” they said. “All the things that White people fear, Black people, Indigenous folks, migrants have been facing for centuries.”
I understand this sentiment. Many in the community in my red state are catastrophizing though and telling us that “well others are already facing that” to make us feel better doesn’t work. And to be honest, it’s also bs. Trans people in those communities aren’t being tracked like the possible worst case scenario. Trans people in those communities aren’t criminalized and being put in camps. Trans people in those communities aren’t being told their meds are now illegal. And all Trans folk are under threat of being beaten up in bathrooms, of being killed for being who we are. Are those communities more likely for those things to happen? Yes. But to say that white trans folk being worried about that and the other worst case scenarios happening too is white supremacy doesn’t really help any Trans person. There’s ways to say we can’t catastrophize without calling it white supremacy.
I understand this sentiment. Many in the community in my red state are catastrophizing though and telling us that “well others are already facing that” to make us feel better doesn’t work. And to be honest, it’s also bs. Trans people in those communities aren’t being tracked like the possible worst case scenario. Trans people in those communities aren’t criminalized and being put in camps. Trans people in those communities aren’t being told their meds are now illegal. And all Trans folk are under threat of being beaten up in bathrooms, of being killed for being who we are. Are those communities more likely for those things to happen? Yes. But to say that white trans folk being worried about that and the other worst case scenarios happening too is white supremacy doesn’t really help any Trans person. There’s ways to say we can’t catastrophize without calling it white supremacy.