DID I STUTTER?
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Contributors
  • FAQ
  • Art
  • Contact
  • Resources

Thoughts on Stuttering, Suspicion, and National Security

1/27/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
Earlier this month Kylie Simmons was detained at the Atlanta International Airport when a customs agent reported her dysfluent speech as suspicious. Customs agents accused Simmons of dishonesty based on her speech when responding to questions, and also of lying about being dysfluent.

Simmons’ treatment by customs enforcement is rooted in the misconception that stuttering is indicative of dishonesty and non-compliance, but is also influenced by institutional racism. An intersectional analysis of this incident must acknowledge the key differences in the experiences of white dysfluent people and dysfluent people of color.

Customs enforcement, the TSA, and regional transit security organizations are agents of state-sanctioned violence against bodies they deem suspicious based on appearance, movement, and communication. Most commonly these are people of color, trans people, disabled people, immigrants, and non-native English speakers. With the justification of promoting national security, law enforcement detains, injures, and kills people perceived as suspicious. In responding to incidents such as the treatment of Kylie Simmons, it is critical to examine not only Simmons’ unequal treatment but also the role of race and disability working together in the state’s policing of its citizens.

The fear of suspicious bodies and their threat to national security is spread through “See Something, Say Something” campaigns, which encourage citizens to police each other in transit and other public spaces. These campaigns are effective in maintaining a continuous state of fear, and an understanding that it is one’s civic duty to scrutinize the actions of others in order to prevent acts of terrorism.

As a disabled, gender nonconforming person who travels often with various mobility aids and medical devices, I have experienced ableism in navigating transit systems including the TSA and customs enforcement. However, when I share my stories of discrimination, it is from a place of racial privilege. As a white person, I can speak out on police brutality with relative confidence that I will not be arrested or killed for being perceived as suspicious, and that neither national security nor the suspiciousness of my body will be used to justify my death at the hands of the state.

In responding to Simmons’ treatment, I am calling for more than awareness about stuttering, or different training for airport staff. Simple outrage at this incident reveals privilege--since such discrimination happens all the time to racialized bodies that appear non-compliant. In solidarity with Black Lives Matter, I am calling for the abolition of customs enforcement, and an end to the state-sanctioned violence against suspicious bodies.

-Erin

2 Comments
Kylie (Kylah) Simmons
3/3/2016 04:28:22 pm

Thank you all for not only writing about my story and promoting a call for action, but thank you for also discussing the multiple forms of discrimination different people who stutter face. I think is it important to not only explore the misconception of stuttering, but to also discuss the topic of marginalized people within the stuttering community as well. Thank you for tackling these subjects!

Reply
ROBERT CERVANTES
3/14/2016 11:44:26 am

Thank you for so eloquently and concisely summarizing a complex issue by introducing the complications that discrimination/race relations/white privilege cause in an already complex matter. I consider your article a public service.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Ableism
    Charis
    Cheryl
    Chris
    Communication
    Community Formation
    David
    Disability
    Disability Politics
    Disability Rights
    Dori
    Eli
    Emma
    Empowerment
    Erin
    Gender
    Inspiration
    Intersectionality
    ISAD
    Jacquelyn
    Josh
    Language
    Medical Model
    Notes For Allies
    Passing
    Person-first Language
    Podcasts
    Relational Stuttering
    Review
    School
    Self Help
    Sexuality
    Social Model
    Speech Language Pathology
    Speech Therapy
    Stuttering Stories
    The King's Speech
    Time
    Zach

    SUBMIT

    Authors

    We stutter and we're down with it.

    Contributors

    Archives

    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.