As a woman of color, black mixed with black, I have the credentials necessary to write this article.
We live in a time women are really stepping up for equal rights for females. A nation of feminists.
We have made strides, and still, there is so much work to be done. We still have lower salary, sexism in being hired to begin with, a limit of statute on rape, and many many more issues I'm sure you're well aware of.
But here's something that you may not know about feminism - there is a difference between WHITE feminism and BLACK feminism. And no, I'm not "adding to the problem by separating races". Bottom line is that with separate races, comes separate issues. Black females are more likely to die during or after childbirth. We are earning less than white females with the SAME credentials, we are the most likely to be unarmed when killed by the police (that's still an issue, don't let the next shooting wake you up to the problem, stay woke.)
Bottom line, there's various problems we are faced with that white women never will be. And when we (WoC) bring up our issues to white women, that's the time for WW to be quiet and LISTEN.
We are minimized as a people as is. Our voices often silenced. However, feminism isn't just catering to white needs. Even when white women recognize the difference, only black women posses the proper credentials to speak on the matters first hand.
Too often, I see how we feel and see issues as cultural appropriation, BLM, our history, and the issues mentioned earlier, brushed aside by white women.
The other day, in a group on FaceBook, a white mother asked how the group felt about allowing children to play with toy guns. I felt the need to step up when all the comments were by white women saying "they're just toys" to say, no...they are not just toys. As a black mother, I can't allow my black children to play with these miniature weapon figures because that automatically makes my children a target for being shot to death by a REAL weapon. A white mother actually told me she didn't agree that it's as big of an issue as I'm making it out to be.
*deep sigh*
Excuse me, white woman?! Prime example of when white women need to be quiet.
Another case, when it came to cultural appropriation - a white woman wanted to "dreadlock" her hair. (They are called locs as nothing is dreadful about my hair. Yes I have locs too, I have all all sorts of validity here.) Many black women chimed in as to why it isn't acceptable, and yet, again, white women felt the need to belittle how we feel about OUR CULTURE and pushing our voices aside. I'm stubborn and was not made to be subtle, so I don't back down, however, other WoC aren't that way and accept it. Feel suppressed, become silenced. Because white women didn't know when to be quiet.
Feminism isn't complete without ALL of us. The moment you silence your brown sisters, you crush what feminism really is.
"To be our allies, you must first learn. To learn, you must first be quiet."
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