Careful observers of the Women’s March and its organizers have known for some time that the message of the Women’s March wasn’t quite as unifying as it appeared on the surface.
The earliest sign of prejudice and hateful messaging that was uncovered was Linda Sarsour’s public claim on Twitter that fellow female activists Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Bridgette Gabriel needed an ass whooping and stated, “I wish I could take their vaginas away–they don’t deserve to be women.”
Sadly, I suspect due to political correctness and societal pressures to not criticize Islam, this attack by Sarsour was at first only discussed by conservative outlets.
Meanwhile, the pussy hats kept rolling in. You could buy them online, take classes on knitting your own, or even get them from this questionable outlet with a consumer warning:
Pussy Scouts: Stern Consumer Warning; Content Warning as Well
Then came fringe complaints such as the following:
Pussy Hats Are Out: Pink P*ssy Hat reinforces notion that woman = vagina & vagina = woman
During the height of the Me Too Movement and Believe all Women atmosphere, claims of sexual harassment against Sarsour made by Asmi Fathelbab were effectively dismissed. It would seem Sarsour was above criticism. (Fathelbab’s claims of harassment may be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/asmilegalfund)
In late August/early September of 2018, at the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) convention, Sarsour was quoted as saying:
“If you’re on the side of the oppressor, or you’re defending the oppressor or you’re actually trying to humanize the oppressor,” she said, “then that’s a problem sisters and brothers and we got to be able to say: that is not the position of the Muslim American community.”
“You as an American Muslim are complicit in the occupation of Palestinians, in the murder of Palestinian protesters. So when we start debating in the Muslim community about Palestine, it tells me a lot about you and about the type of faith that you have in your heart.”
In a speech that clearly mixes church and state, the rhetoric was not widely criticized or reported–in fact, I had to dig it out of Jewish publications to find adequate coverage.
But the recent behavior of Minister Louis Farrakhan who uses his own religious ideology to justify his anti-semitic views, has brought Linda Sarsour to a position where the general public is willing to criticize her. Sadly, it takes someone like Alyssa Milano, a Hollywood celebrity, to make it okay to talk about the Sarsour problem, when many skeptics have been saying this for some time.
Now, Sarsour will deflect from the deeper questions about her credibilty by turning the tables; Sarsour and the Women’s March are not the problem here. It is white women, her white sisters, that are the problem.
In a lengthy Facebook post dated November 8, 2018 Sarsour says:
“I am focused, always am and always will be because my people count on it. There is too much at stake in this moment. I know what I am about to write will be uncomfortable for some. I write this out of love and necessity. I write this as a call to action and an invitation to the higher ground.
This is to you, my white sisters. Now I know some of you will understand what I am saying and have done the internal work to show up as allies for the most marginalized but we can all continue to evolve. Others have not started.
Women of color have worked hard to show you that your liberation is bound up with ours. That we are in fact in this together whether you want to admit it or not. There are some troubling patterns that stem from decades/centuries of history where white women have been used to uphold the patriarchy and white supremacy, consciously or subconsciously.
I want to break this down as easy as I can. I want you to absorb it, analyze it, think about it. I don’t expect you to agree with it all. I do expect you to be uncomfortable but I want you to sit in that discomfort because there was never a moment in history where true transformation happened that was not uncomfortable. Discomfort brings change.
Don’t be like the white women suffragists who worked side by side with Black women to get the right to vote and when it was granted to white women in 1920, Black women still had to wait till 1964.
Don’t be the white women who will show up in Black and Brown Movement spaces and/or stand up to rally against Trump but don’t have the courage to stand up against members of your family who are supporters of Trump.
Don’t be like the white women who erase decades of hard work of women of color because you have critiques of them and tear them down when you know in your heart they are the leaders we need right now.
Don’t be part of the 3 out of 4 white women who would rather vote for a racist, anti-women, islamophobe over a more than qualified Black woman for Governor.
Don’t be the white women who puts conditions on her solidarity with women of color.
Don’t be the white women who will only show up if they are directly impacted but are nowhere to be found when an issue impacts Black People, immigrants, Muslims, and other marginalized people.
Don’t be the white women who call us to do work with them but don’t want to name the real threat – white supremacy – because they think it’s divisive.
Don’t be the white women who will ignore the real threats of white supremacy but use deflections and distractions to blame the violence happening in our communities on anyone and anything but white supremacists, white nationalism and white supremacy.
Be the white women who challenge each other.
Be the white women who see their liberation tied to all women in the world.
Be the white women that understand that unity is not uniformity and that we won’t always agree. We can’t. We come from different places, different upbringings and different communities. We can agree that we all deserve to live freely and safely.
Be the white women who doesn’t join other white women to tear women of color down but instead seek information and understanding.
Be the white women who asks questions that uses critical thinking and doesn’t get consumed by hate, misinformation on the internet.
Be the white women that understand that there is a divide and conquer game being played and not fall for it. Be the ones who understand that too much is at stake for us to be divided.
Be the white women that de-centers their privilege to give platform to women of color who don’t have the same.
Be the white women who stand boldly and unapologetically for justice for ALL people.
Be the white women who will be able to say decades from now that you were on the RIGHT SIDE of history and you stood with the freedom fighters of this generation, yes, many of whom are women of color.
I am open to having dialogue and conversation with whomever is ready. BUT we have to do this work. I need YOU to do this work.”
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Another dumping on the white woman problem is provided here by Sarsour’s communications director:
Alyssa Milano & the White Women Lined Up Behind Her: The Oppressor’s Game