Women of Color and Feminism: A History Lesson and Way Forward

[B2G]

by Anthea Butler
July 28, 2013

I was not surprised when I viewed Amanda Marcotte’s presentation on online feminism at this year’s Netroots Nation conference, in which she pointed mostly to young, hip, white female bloggers writing today. While there are many women of color blogging at sites like the Crunk Feminist Collective, women of color were represented in Marcotte’s PowerPoint presentation by one stock photo of a Black woman holding car keys, with a statement about how online feminists are “driving the movement forward.” The PowerPoint slide is indicative of a larger problem in feminism: the inability to see or identify with women of color who are feminists. It’s not a good look, but then again, this slight is not unexpected given the history between white women and feminists of color.

My purpose in this piece is not to bash Amanda Marcotte—a contributor here at RH Reality Check—but to illuminate some of the long history of tension between the feminist movement and women of color. Writing this piece in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial has not been easy. Is it always going to be this way? Will it always be this difficult to come together with white feminists, as women of color, to work on the many pressing issues in this country, including the rollback of women’s rights, specifically reproductive rights?

The tension between white feminists and feminists of color has existed for a long time, in part because of race, class, and positionality. It is fair to ask, “Why is it so hard for white feminists to embrace, celebrate, and partner with their sisters of color?” Is intersectionality just a dream, or can we work past this conundrum?

It is time for white feminists to become more aware of their internalized compliance to the “isms” that threaten to divide us all, from historical and contemporary perspectives. How can we come together without being torn apart by the other “ism” that threatens feminism: racism? A brief look at the history of the feminist movement and women of color, and a prescription for our future together, is long overdue.

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/07/28/women-of-color-and-feminism-a-history-lesson-and-way-forward/

[bravenak]

1. Did you post this because of th last op?

Anyways, yes, the article brings up many truths that are hard to swallow, but I think there has been improvements since 2013.

[B2G]

2. I did

because so many thought I was criticizing her speech. I wasn't.

Some were offended by her backstage comments about how it's time for minorities to stand up for this cause because 'we stood up for them'. I thought discussing why was worthwhile so I posted this. Race and feminism has a complex history.

Evidently I was wrong.

Peace.

[bravenak]

3. You are right about race and feminism. We black women discuss it often. The lack of support.

And the way our issues get ignored in favor of banning words. I think that's why its hard to discuss.

[B2G]

4. I appreciate your perspective

Thanks for validating this.

Can I ask you something? What are your feelings about her statement in the press room last night? I'd really like your opinion.

[bravenak]

5. Honestly?

I was mostly fine with it. But... The end part right there. I was like, oh , please! I'm a woman too. Felt like being black is a sub category of women and that she never thought about how it would sound to minority women. I don't really fault her though. I think she meant it different than it sounded.

And on the inside it irritated me a bit that she thinks that we need to fight for equality, when that's all black people, men and women, have been doing since we got here. Instead of trying to join us together in the fight for equality, it felt like she was trying to say that evetybody else had achieved equality already when that is not the case. Or, I'm reading way way too much into it.

[B2G]

6. I think that's the way a lot of people took it.

I know I did. I doubt that's what she meant, but that's how it came out. But her comments on stage were spot on. She just should have quit while she was ahead.

Thanks for the honest insight Bravenak.

[bravenak]

7. I agree. What she said on stage was almost perfect.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. Yes. Because black women are almost always invisible and left out of the equation.

That's the problem. Bravenak is absolutely correct.

[B2G]

10. And you are fighting a war on multiple fronts

You would think Ms. Arquette would be more sensitive to that fact.


From the OP article:

Women of color have never had the luxury of simply focusing on women’s issues. Considerations of race, racism, and economic and social injustices have always intertwined with issues of patriarchy and sexism. Women of color who also hold feminist beliefs are also acutely aware of how their communities, broadly defined, are affected by outside forces. One classic standoff in the history of the women’s movement and feminism was between journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells and women’s suffragist Frances Willard. Wells wanted Willard to recognize the problem of lynching in the South, but Willard believed that Black men were drinkers and responsible for the rape of white women. It’s reprehensible, yes, but Willard’s privileged position kept her from seeing the issues that were important for the Black community and Ida B. Wells. It also showed how she bought into the narrative of stereotypes about African-American men, accepting the trumped-up notion that African-American men, presumed to be more alcoholic than white men, were a sexual menace to white women and were being properly targeted. Wells fought against this strenuously, and their battle strained relationships between African-American and white women in the suffrage and temperance movements.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

11. Thank you so much for this. Sadly there is now a war between black men and black women...

...and I'm hearing many black men blaming feminism--essentially accusing black women of being in lockstep with white feminism. White feminism, they charge, has destroyed the black family; hence, the prevalence of single female-headed households.

Black women have been blamed for every single goddamned thing that has happened to the black community. Yet, we are told to shut up when it comes to our own claims of racism. We are forgotten as the victims of racial discrimination. And when it comes to sexism, forget it! We are invisible! Told that only black men suffer "true" racism and discrimination, since black women are doing well in academic and the workplace. So now it has sown resentment between men and women, as we talk past each other. Misunderstanding leads to frustration. Frustration leads to hatred. Hatred leads to further alienation from one another and destruction of our community.

The shit I've seen on YouTube (Google Tommy Sotomayor and "black women," "Men Going Their Own Way&quot and other social media outlets is absolutely disgusting. But I and many of my black sisters are also devastated. Completely and utterly devastated by how we are treated. But, as usual, we keep going. The vast majority of black men and women are together. And that's what matters!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. I think you're right. And I also do not think Ms. Archette (sp?) had us black women in mind

when she spoke of women last night. Just my opinion and many women of color agree with me. Hence, the tension that has existed for so long.

Racism in the White Feminist movement has existed since Seneca Falls.