brettk at unicacorp.com wrote:
>Since you bring it up, I would like to know what some of the perspectives
>of feminists are when it comes to the Taliban.
Todd asked me what women of color told white women in a feminist theory course in grad school. i refused to answer, for a reason, the same one i gave a few years ago the few times that women were asked to explain to men what feminism was all about. and now it comes up again, even though i and some other women here spoke to this topic a couple of times already. Well, to answer Todd, this piece is about racism, but y'all can use your abstract thinking skills and apply it to yisself (ourselves) and to sexism (heterosexism, classism, ablism) on this topic:
Something About the Subject Makes It Hard to Name Gloria Yamato <...> Whites who want to be allies to people of color: You can educate yourselves via research and observation rather than rigidly, arrogantly relying solely on interrogating people of color. Do not expect that people of color should teach you how to behave non-oppressively. Do not give into the pull to be lazy. Think, hard. Do not blame people of color for your frustration about racism, but do appreciate the fact that people of color will often help you get in touch with that frustration. Assume that your effort to be a good friend is appreciated, but don't expect or accept gratitude from people of color . Work on racism for your sake, not "their" sake. Assume that you are needed and capable of being a good ally. Know that you'll make mistakes and commit yourself to correcting them and continuing on as an ally, no matter what. Don't give up. <...>
here's more context: Racism(sexism)--simple enough in structure, yet difficult to eliminate. Racism(sexism) is pervasive in the U.S culture...
The forms of racism(sexism) I pick up on these days are 1) aware/blatant racism(sexism), 2) aware/covert racism(sexism), 3) unaware/unintentional racism(sexism), and 4) unaware/self-righteous racism(sexism). I can't say I prefer any one form of racism(sexism), because they all look like an itch needing a scratch. Outright racists will, without apology or confusion, tell us that b/c of our color we don't appeal to them. ... Growing up, aware/cover racism is what I heard my elders bemoaning "up North," after having escaped the overt racism "down South." ...
Unaware/unintentional racism(sexism) drives usually tranquil white(male)liberals wild when they get called on it, and confirms the suspicion that white (male) folks are just plain crazy. ...
Now, the newest form of racism that I'm hip to is unaware/self-righteous racism. The "good white" racist attempts to shame Blacks into being blacker, scorns Japanese-Americans who don't speak Japanese, and knows more about the Chicano/a community than the folks who make up the community. They assign themselves as the "good whites," as opposed to the "bad whites," and are often so busy telling people of color what the issues in the Black, Asian, Indian, Latino/a communities should be that they don't have time to deal with their errant sisters and brothers in the white community. Which means that people of color are still left to deal with what the "good whites" don't want to...racism. ... (notice here, that when it comes to sexism, white males here recently that are just plain busy bitching about what horrible feminist do, but they have not actually got a klew what feminist do or think. they just think that, as good lefties, they should piss and moan about what bad, awful liberal feminists (like Mary Daly and Andrea Dworkin) do, usually getting it wrong and passing around the same myths that rightwingers tell one another. pathetic, really.)
So, what can we do? Acknowledge racism(sexism) for a start, even though and especially when we've struggled to be kind and fair, or struggled to rise about it all. It is hard to acknowledge the fact that racism(sexism) circumscribes and pervades our lives. Racism(sexism) must be dealt with on two levels, personal and societal, emotional and institutional. It is possible--and most effective--to do both at the same time. ...
i urge y'all to read the rest. and more....
kelley