Many famous feminists have been racist. Some, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frances Willard, spoke out against the fact that “degraded black men” could vote, but white women could not. Women of color have endured racism from White Feminists, even being made to walk in the back at feminist marches. In the 1980s, women of color eventually began the womanist and mujerista movements because they did not have a place in mainstream Feminism. Brittney Cooper, a professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, explains the difference between white feminists and feminists of color, saying, "One kind of feminism focuses on the policies that will help women integrate fully into the existing American system. The
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For instance, women of color deal with extreme levels of stereotyping and the resulting implications. As white women, such as Gloria Steinem, became the face of the Feminist Movement in the 1970s, women of color were shoved to the side. This is problematic because women of color face additional layers of discrimination and other hardships that must be addressed within the Feminist Movement. Women in general deal with lower wages and a higher likelihood of being impoverished, but compared with white women, Black and Latina women are two times as likely to be living in poverty. Slightly less than one-fourth of Latina women and more than one-fourth of Black women are living below the poverty line within the U.S.6 Compared to the forty percent of all women currently holding management positions, only 5.6 percent of black women and 4.8 percent of Latina women hold these positions.7 Women of color do not begin life on a level playing field, by no fault of their own. Feminists that attempt to achieve equality, but fail to address evidence that women of color are disproportionately affected by a broken system, only harm their cause. Black Feminist Barbara Smith addressed this issue in a paper about racism within the Feminist Movement, saying, “Feminism is the political theory and practice that struggles to free all women: women of color, working-class women, poor women, disabled women, lesbians, old women, as well as white, economically privileged heterosexual women. Anything less than this vision of total freedom is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandizement.”8 Simply fighting for gender equality without addressing the abundance of other issues within that can no longer be acceptable. White Feminists’ ignorance is not a valid excuse
For instance, women of color deal with extreme levels of stereotyping and the resulting implications. As white women, such as Gloria Steinem, became the face of the Feminist Movement in the 1970s, women of color were shoved to the side. This is problematic because women of color face additional layers of discrimination and other hardships that must be addressed within the Feminist Movement. Women in general deal with lower wages and a higher likelihood of being impoverished, but compared with white women, Black and Latina women are two times as likely to be living in poverty. Slightly less than one-fourth of Latina women and more than one-fourth of Black women are living below the poverty line within the U.S.6 Compared to the forty percent of all women currently holding management positions, only 5.6 percent of black women and 4.8 percent of Latina women hold these positions.7 Women of color do not begin life on a level playing field, by no fault of their own. Feminists that attempt to achieve equality, but fail to address evidence that women of color are disproportionately affected by a broken system, only harm their cause. Black Feminist Barbara Smith addressed this issue in a paper about racism within the Feminist Movement, saying, “Feminism is the political theory and practice that struggles to free all women: women of color, working-class women, poor women, disabled women, lesbians, old women, as well as white, economically privileged heterosexual women. Anything less than this vision of total freedom is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandizement.”8 Simply fighting for gender equality without addressing the abundance of other issues within that can no longer be acceptable. White Feminists’ ignorance is not a valid excuse