The Hart of the Matter: White women must be held accountable for racism
F
rom the spike in hate crimes following the election to the bloody rally in Charlottesville, the United States is facing a severe internal threat in the form of white supremacy.
The blame largely goes to white men. Look at any picture of a supremacy rally or a KKK meeting and you will see a crowd of white males. However, this has created a picture of racism that is not fully accurate.
The supremacists behind the wall of safety created by false public perception are white women. It is unacceptable for white women to be able to hide behind a false image of what a racist looks like, free from accountability. White women must also be culpable for their racism.
In truth, white women have a large impact on the white supremacy movement. While it is hard to pinpoint actual numbers, expert George Hawley, professor of political science and author of Making Sense of the Alt-Right, estimates about 20 percent of white nationalists are women. Going back into history, about half a million women were members of the KKK during the segregation era.
Look at some of the most important moments in the civil rights movement, such as the Little Rock Nine or Emmett Till, and you will see the role of female racists: Emmett Till was brutally murdered for supposedly whistling at a white woman, who later admitted she lied, and one of the most iconic photos in history depicts Elizabeth Eckford marching into Little Rock Central High School with a group of livid white women screaming behind her.
These historical events are relevant because they exemplify the contributions of white women to a system of racism that white supremacists are aiming to restore and uphold. White women are not absent from the past of racism in our country, and are certainly not removed from the future of the matter.
In the recent election, 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump, a well-known and still shocking fact. Many would assume the misogynistic comments from Trump would have deterred most women from casting their vote to him, outweighing their racial ties.
This may be due to the fact that Trump built his campaign on racial resentment and fear. White women may suffer under misogyny, but they certainly benefit from white privilege.
Today’s headlines show white nationalist after white nationalist being fired from their jobs or losing their families for their heinous beliefs, a hopeful sign that society is no longer tolerating the racist ideals of the past. However, white women are largely free from this dialogue.
It is imperative that as our culture moves towards tolerance and against bigotry, we do not allow for anyone to slip through the cracks. Society needs to hold white women accountable for their racism as much as men, or America will continue to be a breeding ground for racial bigotry.
Anon 1 • Sep 18, 2017 at 9:53 pm
Please use logic when arguing anything this substantial
1. Of course the KKK (A white supremacy organization) is going to have a white membership.
2.You say white women are free from accountability yet you give no reasonable explanation as to why?
3. “Argumentum Verecundia” google it. You tried arguing with appeal to authority it failed but if it
worked out you would have committed this fallacy.
4. Ok you stated a fact “Going back into history, about half a million women were members of the KKK during the segregation era.” how does this connect back to your point?
5.Can you please explain why her lying is racist? everyone has lied too i do not think you were
trying to harm another.(give proof it was for racially charged reasons and i will give you that.)
6.Yes in the little rock case the women in the photo were obviously racist but we live in
modern america were the women are different and even in that time i am sure not everyone was racist.
7.The specific women in the cases were contributors so still a bad point cause not all white women did this.
8.Come on really this is ridiculous white women voting to gain “white privilege” prove it I dare you.
Your committing a black and white fallacy not everyone is voting for these two specific reasons
your oversimplifying humans and their democratic freedoms.
9. “we do not allow for anyone to slip through the cracks. Society needs to hold white women accountable for their racism as much as men” it’s unreasonable to punish white women for the faults of
other people this is like punishing modern Americans for a crime their grandfather commits this is so unreasonable.
Don’t get me wrong some points (although very few) may have potential
but you just committed way to many fallacies and bad arguments for me to even get close to agreeing.
check out this link below so you can write a article next time instead of a sad folk tale.
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
Michael Brown • Feb 9, 2024 at 10:44 am
1. No one is arguing otherwise you dolt
2. “Why” doesn’t really matter here(as if we don’t already know “why”). Either you can refute what the author as asserted or you cannot. You cannot.
3. Found the pathetic Neck-Beard who just learned some Latin. Either you can falsify what the author is asserting you cannot. You cannot.
4. Are you realy this stupid ? It’s called pointing to a historical trend. Do you really need to be walked thru this ?
5.
6. Are you seriously arguing that the White racists in the 60s/70s are somehow completely unrelated to the White racists of Today ? The Republican party openly makes common cause with self-avowed Nazis and White Supreamcists. Many of those people are still alive today. You sure this the hill you want to die on ?
7. No one made any such argument. I really hope you are not a defense attorney because you suck at this
8. As if the last 600 years isn’t proof enough…no you ridiculous fool….the burden of proof here is on you. You are the one here making rediculous, a-factual assertions absent of any actual evidence.
9. Shut up.
10. LOL…tell me more about how you are now a “very deep thinker” via using Latin phrases you don’t actually understand and spending your time on bullshit sites like the one you linked to
Anonymous • Sep 18, 2017 at 9:46 pm
This doesn’t belong here. Political opinions, out of school newspapers.