Sunday, June 21, 2015

Black Feminist to White Feminists: “Stop Using the Race Card”

Writing for Ravishly and the Huffington Post, feminist Ijeoma Oluo has a message for white people in her movement: stop using the race card.

In an aptly named opinion piece, “White Feminists: Please Stop Using the Race Card,” Oluo called out other feminist members.

“I never thought I’d have to say this,” Oluo begins her article, “but white people: stop using the race card. I’m serious. I’m getting sick and tired of the movement I’ve dedicated my life to being used as your weapon. I’m onto you — I see what you’re doing.”

Olou says that feminists are using race as a weapon. “I’ve seen white feminists try multiple times to damage other white feminists that they have personal issues with by implying that they are racist without any proof,” she notes.

Then, without irony, she calls two white actresses, Tina Fey to Patricia Arquette, racist. Oluo writes, “we see even the most famous feminists disenfranchise women of color with harmful statements and actions.”
Ms. Oluo
Indeed, Oluo says that “women of color struggle every day in a racist and sexist world, while being told to be happy with trickle-down feminism.” Feminists do not talk about racism, she writes, but when they do it is not actually to further equality, but to use it as an attack against others.

“Women of color are smart. We know when we are being used,” she writes. “As people of color gain more power and visibility on social media, it’s unavoidable that some white people will try to exploit that for their gain.” However, “We are not mercenaries for whiteness.”

She continues, “The movement for racial justice is one many people of color have dedicated a significant portion of our lives to. This is about survival — for us, our children, our brothers and sisters, and our husbands and wives. We live this struggle every day. Our struggle to survive is not a weapon to be used by one white woman against another white woman.”

Finally, Oluo tells white feminists to just listen to what she and other African Americans are telling them. “If you care about ending racism, if you care about social justice, then listen to us,” she writes. “If you want to know what to do, we will tell you. We’ve been telling you. We are on the front lines. You are welcome to stand with us — just don’t try to stand for us.”

3 comments:

  1. I am as willing to bash Tina Fey as anybody, but I have no idea what this professional victim is whining about.

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  2. There is a point to be made how black women have it tougher than white women in America. But that's to do more with race than with gender.

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  3. Ms Oluo doesn't look very black….is she mixed race or spray paint. The Dolezal mess is now making me very skeptical.

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