In conversations about marginalization and oppression based on gender, race, sexual orientation, body type or anything else, a key mechanism used by those invested in said systems is labeling anyone who speaks against one or more of them as angry. I am accused of being angry at least once a month. Sometimes by white people who seek to write off my critiques of racism and sometimes by straight people of all races who feel that I should not question heteronormativity . Its as if they believe that anger–real or alleged–invalidates anything that a person may bring to a conversation.

Last year, a white guy that I know told me that posting so much about racism made me seem like an “angry racist”. I won’t even go into the a discussion of how anyone who challenges racism is labeled a racist themselves. However, by adding the adjective angry this person sought to minimize the things I was saying. Let me just say that racial profiling, the prison industrial complex, the criminalization of black motherhood and the myriad of other forces working against African American people DO make me angry–as they should anyone of any race who claims to believe in the concept of justice. However, this person was seeking to paint me as “angry” in the sense that I blamed white people for any and all personal issues I may face and that this rage makes it impossible for me to form an argument. I have also been labeled angry, on numerous occasions by perpetuators of homophobia–accused of being mad because people don’t “accept my lifestyle”. Then, I will receive advice–more from their unwillingness to think critically about sexuality than any concern for me–to “just do me” and not worry about others think. Never mind, the fact that my liberties, in some ways, are abridged under the law because of my sexual orientation or that I could be physically harmed by a stranger who deduces that I am gay. I’m just salty because people don’t wanna watch me fuck. Basically the sentiment among those invested in the dehumanization of others is that being a member of a demographic automatically disqualifies you from speaking on issues facing that demographic. Ironically, however, when someone who is not a member of the oppressed group being discussed and they critique the oppression, they are accused of being in the number. For instance, I can’t count how many twitter conversations I have had with random egg profiles where I was accused on being on welfare simply because I believe that entitlement programs should continue to exist. Another occurrence of “you defend so you must be” was when I was telling an older woman why I thought her crusade against saggy pants was silly and solved no real problems, she told me to “keep walking around with my ass out” and see where I end up. Anyone who actually KNOWS me knows that sagging is not characteristic of my personal style. Nevertheless, this woman felt that they only reason that I would have to challenge the tired notion that sagging pants were adversely harming black youth would be because I personally like to sag. These are the things I deal with.

In conclusion, I’d like to say that anger among people who face oppression is not unwarranted. Women have the right to be pissed off about slut shaming, street harassment and government invasion into private reproductive choices. As a black man who happens to be gay, I have the right to be pissed off about being demonized as the culprit of HIV in the black community, being characterized as the worst possible end result of a single mother home and/or by having my love life regulated by the government. As a black person in general, I have the right to be mad about the fact that a different person who looks like me is gunned down by law enforcement every week for “looking suspicious”, about the fact that people follow me around stores that I enter to bring them my money, about the fact that I am complimented by white for being “articulate” when they expect it from other white people and/or about the fact that a good portion of the black males that I grew up with are under the control–because of non-violent crimes–of a criminal justice system that turns a blind eye to white boys who are doing the same damn thing. All of those things are infuriating. Moreover, being infuriated does not invalidate any critique of any of the systems that allow any of this bullshit to continue to go on.