White Women are Failing Us

Are liberal white women really learning?

During the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020, it seemed that liberal white women across America were experiencing an awakening of sorts. They invited black activists onto their podcasts, read books by black authors, and shared social media posts from black educators. They had the right discussions, about what it means to be anti racist, recognizing their privilege, and even their responsibility to take the initiative to learn instead of expecting people of color to educate them. To me, at least, it felt like they were finally starting to have an increased awareness of what life looks like for black people, and people of color as a whole, in America. This kind of narrative was most prominent amongst liberal white women in “self betterment” spaces- Glennon Doyle and Brené Brown built bridges with adrienne maree brown and Ibram X. Kendi, emphasizing the role that white women need to have in dismantling racist and oppressive systems. And all of the white women who follow them, the ones who pride themselves on being different from other white women, followed suit. They started book clubs and had conversations with the black people in their communities, telling them that finally, after decades of complacency in systemic racism, they were getting it. They understood, and they were sorry, and they were going to be better. White women said all of the “correct“ things, but did they actually understand the movement that they were claiming to jump into?

October 2023 marks the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, and with it the collapse of the externally progressive image that liberal white women had managed to create several years prior. Suddenly, these supposedly woke women were leaping onto their Instagram stories to post statements propping up a “neutral” or “both sides” perspective. It was all just so sad that they couldn’t possibly begin to think critically about the context prior to October 7th or the reality of life for Palestinians who have lived in Gaza for the last 76 years. In an instant the imagery of the progressive white woman imploded, and standing in her place was the same complacency that has existed since early colonization of America. The “both sides” takes are not only ignorant and uninformed, but they demonstrate a clear lack of understanding of the anti-racist theory that people claimed to be learning. We’ve somehow ended up back in the nonsense of All Lives Matter.

To be clear, this is not just an issue of only white women, but rather a broader lack of understanding about what it really means to be anti racist in connection with other communities. Comprehending systemic racism means being able to link the struggles of black people in America with those of other oppressed peoples around the world. It isn’t enough to know that police targeting black Americans is bad, or even that Israel killing Palestinians is wrong, but understanding that these are interconnected symptoms of the same system. Some of these ties are more obvious- the US sends weapons and aid to Israel, and American law enforcement agencies trade tactics with the IOF, but the root of these issues goes beyond just the US and Israel. Both of these countries, along with every other military power, have been built on the exploitation and destruction of other people, which has been enabled and promoted by western imperialism. Colonial entities support each other in the denigration of people of color, of women, of queer people, and together build a world where each may abuse these groups as they desire without repercussions. They infuse these values into the lives of every person they can reach, so that even if we spend our whole lives fighting it we always retain at least a little racism, misogyny, and homophobia. And then police can kill 12-year-old Tamir Rice and the IOF can slaughter 6-year-old Hind Rajab and all of the millions who came before them and the millions that will come after them, while the world keeps spinning and nothing much really changes. When we view these as isolated problems, the system is allowed to continue on. It is reliant on you never making these connections, and as long as people view them separately we will never really be able to tackle any of them. People will waste time and energy trying to end American racism without realizing it hinges on the liberation of the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Congo, Mexico, Haiti, Hawai’i, Turtle Island, and every other marginalized person.

White women are evidently dropping the ball internationally, but also here at home. In the 2024 presidential election, white women turned out for Trump at numbers far higher than other demographics. 53% of white women voted for Trump, compared to 39% of Latina women and only 10% of black women. This reveals a key issue- white women are not only failing to show up for us as people of color, but are also failing to educate their mothers, sisters, and friends. 2024 is not the first time this has happened, either. In 2016, only 45% of white women voted for Hillary Clinton, compared to 54% of women overall, and an astounding 98% of black women. Apparently, white women not only neglect women of color, but also each other. Why didn’t white female voters show up for a white female presidential candidate?

Simply put, white women lack the kind of sisterhood that women of color have. They are more allied with white men than they are with each other, and other white women are viewed as competition instead of a support system. Rather than recognize that she’s playing a game she can’t win, a white woman will take aim at another woman to try and appease white men. As my mom says “White women are the foot soldiers of the patriarchy”. They move through life promoting the same racist, imperialist ideologies in ways that are subtler, but just as harmful. Trying to understand why they operate this way is a tricky question, one I can only theorize answers to. In my life as an Arab woman, I feel like our sisterhood is essential to our survival. If we can’t lean on each other, we have nothing. We understand that our ability to make it through this world comes from our ability to build strong, supportive communities, because nobody else is going to save us. Many white women seem to employ a different tactic, appealing to white men and the patriarchy in the hopes that they can scrape by. This is not to speak in absolutes, because there will always be the oddball women of color (the Candace Owenses and Nikki Haleys) who hope they can be the exception by sacrificing their own communities. And while of course there are white women who are beginning to see past this system, the overarching trends prevail. What white women fail to realize is that patriarchy and imperialism spare no one. After the black women, and brown women, they’re the next target.

What I want white women to understand is that buying books on Amazon and having conversations online is not enough. Simply being a woman is not enough, not when white women continue to uphold harmful systems while claiming to be on our side. I need everyone to step back from their own problems, revise the way that they view the world, and bring the things they learn back to their social circles. We are tired of having to handhold and explain why they should care about every single issue and how they are all connected to each other. All of our struggles are interconnected and interdependent, and we won't make progress constantly having to re-explain this. The road to liberation is long and difficult, but it's possible to get there if we build the communities to support each other on the journey.

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