Welcome Home

[bekitty]

I, like Catiecat, have recently had a brush with the US Customs and Border Patrol, and been shown the benefits of privilege. Only my experience was a bit more, well, intenseA bit of background: In August of 2007, I moved with my partner David to Knoxville in Tennessee. He'd been headhunted by the folks at Oak Ridge National Laborotory, and he'd

Comments

A clarification

[bekitty]

I have been told by one person who read this blog that I was indulging in "privileged whining", and that I shouldn't complain because other people have it worse than me.

I have to say that I partially agree with the first statement. Yes, of course I'm privileged. I don't deny that. I was treated far more humanely than some of the other women in Tank 6, simply because of the colour of my skin and the fact that I speak English as a first language. I will never be called an "illegal" or a "meskin".

I am also the recipient of cissexual privilege. Because of that, I was able to go into a women-only space without being questioned, and without feeling any fear. And I was at far less risk of rape or abuse by other detainees or guards. I don't know what the situation is in the state of California, but if I had been a trans* woman and in Tennessee, my gender identity would have been discounted and I would have been put in with the men.

But "whining"? No. That isn't what I did. What I did with this post is let my friends know what had happened to me. Many questions were asked over the last week via twitter and facebook, and I had to let people know what had happened just so that their questions could be answered. And also, possibly stop some rumours before they had a chance to start.

As for the second statement, that I shouldn't complain because other people have it worse than me - this is the manoeuver known as the "Oppression Olympics", and it's a well-known derailing technique. Of course there were people in Tank 6 who were worse off than me. I'm not denying that for an instant, either. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't tell my own story.

By writing this account, I am saying: what happened to me, happens to Latin@ people all the time. This kind of thing should not happen to ANYONE.

Re: A clarification

[adrexia]

Agreed. There is always someone in the world who has things worse. It still doesn't make wrong things magically right.

I didn't take this as whining at all. Not even a little bit. Thank you for sharing it.

Re: A clarification

[alex51324]

"Privileged whining"? Seriously? Throughout the post you mentioned the ways that privilege was at work--you were treated badly, but still treated better than the Latina women. And it's also clear that you didn't think you were less deserving of being detained than the other women.

The other women's stories, combined with yours, make me wonder what happens if someone is detained like that who only had the money to get where she was originally trying to go. It sounds like you didn't have to pay for the flight back (did you?), but they just sent you to whatever spot in your own country was most convenient for them, right? If that's standard procedure, I bet a lot of people get dropped off in some city where they may not know anyone, or may have never even been before. And if they don't have the money to buy a plane ticket, what are they supposed to do then? For example, the woman who was trying to fix her car--if her car broke down when she was on some ordinary errand, going to the store or something, she wouldn't have been prepared for international travel at the drop of a hat--even if she has the money or credit cards to buy a ticket to someplace where she knows someone, she might not have had them actually on her person when she happened to be picked up. (I'm also wondering what happened to the car--how much do you want to bet, at some point, the city or county where she was picked up tries to collect towing and impound fees from her?)

Anyway, thanks for sharing your story.

(I came here from China_shop's LJ, by the way.)