Analysis Of The Song Not One More

“If she was a white girl, she could still be alive.” A sentence in the lyric of the song our keynote speaker plays echoes in the assembly hall, crammed with more than one thousand people—students and faculty members. The song Not One More by TWOCC grieves the loss of several transgender women of color. Our keynote speaker says that the life expectancy of transgender women of color in the US is merely 35 years. Compared to the average global life expectancy of 70 years old, that number is depressing. What happens to these women? “If she was a white girl, she could still be alive.” Transgender women of color, as our keynote speaker says, experiences threats and dangers every day. Walking outside of their homes means risking their lives to be beaten or murdered. Just like how criminals are publicly attacked to shame their crimes. Yet, is it these women’s fault? Is it their fault to be born in a darker shade of skin? Is it their fault to be born in a body with the biological sex they do not belong? Is it their fault to express themselves as who they really are? Is it their fault to be beaten to death by the society that denies their existence? Or is it our fault?
“If she was a white girl, she could still be alive.” Pictures of transgender women of color one after another are shown in the video: Alisha Walker, age 20; Amber Monroe, age 20; Mercedes Williamson, age 17; and more.
Violence and hate crimes take their lives away at the very prime time of life. What was I doing when I was 17? What am I doing as I am turning 20? What would have been different for them, had they been born in a body of a girl? Would they still be dancing and hanging out? Would they still be in college learning to one day achieve their goals? Would they be working? Would they be living in a warm, lovely
family? “If she was a white girl, she could still be alive.” Had these women been born white, what could have been different? Is race the key difference that divides us as a community? African Americans live a more dangerous life in various places in such a liberal country as the US. We try to achieve racial inclusivity; everyone lives together in an ideal, homogenous society. Still, we blame each other. Whites blame blacks for crimes and insecurity. Blacks blame whites for white supremacy and capitalism. Yet, what we have to learn in order to come to a realization of living in the ideal, race-blind community we seek is that, as much as it is not wrong to be born black, it is not wrong to be born white. “If she was a white girl, she could still be alive.” How open is our society for the non-conforming genders? How inclusive is our society in terms of races and ethnicities? How respectful is our society of the basic, intrinsic human rights – the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?