Internalized sexism at least a hundred times more prevalent in women of color than internalized racism

Posted 19 November, 2007 at 11:16 pm by donna darko
Filed Under Racism, Womanism/Feminism |

[Originally posted at Leftist Looney Lunchbox. Any comments should be left there.]

Ann went to town on sexist men of color at Rachel’s after I did of course and I wanted her to have (her) last (magnificent) word.

But I want to finish a thought.

Since I was a teenager, I noticed APIA women did not speak out against sexism of APIA men. They were in denial or made excuses. I noticed this in college, too, among women of color.

Women of color are a hundred times more likely to condone or enable the sexism of men of color than they are to condone or enable the racism of whites.

In other words, women of color are a hundred times more likely to speak out against racism than they are to speak out against the sexism of men of color.

Even though most rape and domestic violence occurs within the community. You see this pattern in real life and online.

Today is the perfect example:

How many women of color do you think turned up for the huge Jena Six/Hate Crimes march on DC today compared to the protest for crimes against women of color? (Details and commentary on both protests below.)

You can bet your life there were at least a hundred times more women of color at the first protest than at the second.

You can also bet your life there were at least a hundred times more women of color at the Jena Six protest in Jena, Louisiana than at the Megan Williams protest in Charleston, West Virginia.

Woman of color feminism (this can be NA/APIA/black/Latina feminism) is generally about two things:

1. ending the racism of whites
2. ending the sexism of men of color

bell hooks said people of color must repeatedly speak out against sexism in communities of color and

Until this silence is repeatedly broken, NAs/Asians/blacks/Latinos will never be able to constructively address issues of positive gender identity formation, domestic violence, rape, incest, or NA/Asian/black/Latino male-on-male violence.

The next time a woman or man of color says the words “internalized racism,” think about how neither the woman nor man of color in the same conversation has ever spoken out against the sexism of men of color. Perhaps even about the sexism of the man in the conversation.

Then speak out about sexism in your community.

Visible women of color feminisms are the only way we can end sexism, rape, domestic violence and sexual harrassment in our communities because white feminists do not speak out for us.

Crooks and Liars:

Jena 6/Hate Crime protests in DC

There’s a huge turnout in DC today as thousands of African Americans marched on the Justice Department to demand racial equality from the justice system spurred on by the Jena 6 case. CNN does a nice job with its coverage today. The new AG, Mukasey was forced to respond and you can hear what he had to say in the video.

Jena Six’ case sparks march on DC

Marchers surrounded the Justice Department headquarters on Friday to demand federal intervention in the “Jena Six” case and enforcement of hate crimes against those who hang nooses in public. On a chilly but clear day, busloads of people packed a downtown plaza seeking a big government response to small town injustices…

What About Our Daughters?:

DUNBAR VILLAGE COUNTER PROTEST MAKES USAToday! - Picture of BlkSeaGoat Included - YOU GO BOY!

What About Our Daughters?:

In case you have not heard, there is a protest scheduled today in front of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC about hate crimes. A WAOD reader, Shane, has organized a “counter protest” of the protest. But “counter protest” is an inartful way to describe what is going to take place today because “counter” implies that Shane is against the stated goals of the original protest. That is not true he probably agrees with the folk getting on charter buses to march in DC. So instead of “counter protest” a better way to describe what Shane has organized is “a very public CONVERSATION.” Folks are coming to DC for a monologue well Shane just made it a dialog and some people are in a uproar that he would dare have such a dialog on the streets of DC during their carefully crafted protest. You see, with the same fervor that some folks hundreds of years ago believe that the earth was flat, they believe that Black folks can’t have a VERY PUBLIC CONVERSATION without the whole of Black America imploding on the spot, instantaneously. We survived the Middle Passage, Slavery, Jim Crow and flavor of Love, but what we cannot survive, to some folks, is a VERY PUBLIC CONVERSATION!

There is a lot I do not know right now, but one thing I DO KNOW is that Black American can survive a CONVERSATION. In fact, we’ll be better for it. What we cannot survive is continued SILENCE. This craving for SILENCE for the sake of UNITY is killing us literally.

So everybody chill out. Today is a great day for Black America. Today we will have concrete proof that we can have a public CONVERSATION and a public “engagement” and Black America will survive and thrive.

bell hooks said there’s a difference between unity that sweeps differences under the rug and community which celebrates differences.

USAToday:

When demonstrators rally on the steps of the U.S. Justice Department Friday to protest the government’s handling of hate crimes, blogger-turned-activist Shane Johnson will be waiting for them with a protest of his own.

Johnson and a modest band of supporters are pushing back against the outpouring of black support for black male offenders, such as the Jena 6, saying it comes at the expense of female victims of black-on-black crime.

The group is leading a Jena 6-like grass-roots movement through e-mails, blogs and rallies. It wants to call national attention to the beating and rape of a 35-year-old Haitian woman and the beating and sexual assault of her 12-year-old son by up to 10 assailants in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Johnson organized the rally after he read about the assault on the blog, “What About Our Daughters?” He questions why national black leaders and black media who supported the Jena 6 and the alleged victim in the Duke lacrosse case have ignored the Dunbar Village attack, in which the mother, son and alleged attackers are black.

Gina McCauley, an Austin attorney who runs the blog “What About Our Daughters?,” a site devoted to fighting stereotypes of black women in popular culture, says the Florida case has garnered little national attention because “we don’t value the lives of black women.”

Actually, the Jersey Four case is more like Jena Six because they’re about unequal justice. The Jersey Four are IN PRISON AS WE SPEAK for defending themselves. Sexism in communities of color is one thing, homophobia another. Dwayne Buckle made sexist and homophobic remarks not because of racism but lack of feminist education which is why woman of color feminism is critical to liberation.

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