During this presidential primary season, I have had an ongoing discussion with my close friend, Tamala, about her support of Barack Obama. I always ask her how she can abandon the sisterhood for a man. Her answers have never satisfied my curiosity until she sent me the email below. Now, I get it.
from my friend...
"I’ve been searching for years to find a way to explain to others, and to myself sort of, why for me The Black Thing thunders over and crushes The Woman Thing.
I’ve been especially been challenged recently by my sisters over my support of Barack Obama over Hilary Clinton in the contest for the Democratic nomination for POTUS. “How could you?” the protests go. “How could you support a MAN over the first woman that has a real shot at the White House?”
The charge relies on all of us accepting that we’ve been in this Woman Thing, together, since the beginning. We have everything in common – from childbearing to being passed over for promotions. But that promise was long ago broken – at least in this country.
In America being white has mattered far more than being down with the ubiquitous sisterhood. From the days of wet nurses, mammies and whippings, my sisters showed me that the line that separated me from them is heavy and thick. That line is not to be toyed with. White matters more than woman.
Yes, things are different now. The world has changed. I’m not living in the Jim Crow south with slurs rolling easily off tongues and doors to liberty shut to all who look like me. But my sisters of those eras past and, sadly, present, let me know that in the us and the them of their sisterhood, I am the them.
It was my “sisters” shouting, “Nigger go home!” How could they?"
My God -- this is one of the more powerful posts I've seen. It resonates so deeply in American history. White women tried to throw African-American women under the bus during the sufferage era, but cracks between them hurt both "sides" during the civil rights era.
The fact that Hillary has subtley played the race card sickens me. Has Obama played the gender card?
What I truly, deeply, achingly hope for is that true alliances can be forged during the next administration.
Posted by: Kristin | April 01, 2008 at 09:31 PM
That *was* powerful, Bitsy. What a friendship you have that you can talk about race and gender like that.
I also saw this essay by Alice Walker on why she supports Obama here at Roots: http://www.theroot.com/id/45469. Well worth reading.
Posted by: cynematic | April 01, 2008 at 10:22 PM
I support either Obama or Clinton. I just want someone who can beat the Republicans. But if race really is the deciding factor for a large number of voters, as it apparently is in this case, then get ready for four more years of Iraq wars, tax cuts, massive deficits, and corporate greed. It appears to me that what Obama said shouldn't happen is happening: we are dividing up according to race and we won't support anybody who doesn't look like us, whether we're white, Hispanic, or African American. In that case, Democrats are sunk, maybe not only for this election, but for many elections to come. I have been so excited about the possibilities of electing either a woman or African American. Now I'm scared to death that we will be stuck with an honorable but obsolet e white guy who still believes that military solutions will resolve cultural, religious, and political differences that stretch back centuries
Posted by: The Shelfer | April 02, 2008 at 06:15 AM
Just read Alice Walker's essay on why she supports Obama. It's a MUST read. Thanks, Cynematic.
Posted by: Value wIT | April 02, 2008 at 06:18 AM
This is a fantastic insight and explanation.
Thank you for sharing it.
Posted by: Julie Pippert | April 02, 2008 at 08:16 AM
Wow.
Powerful words. Powerful words.
Posted by: Lawyer Mama | April 02, 2008 at 02:21 PM
Really powerful photo and insight.
Posted by: PunditMom | April 03, 2008 at 11:24 AM
THANK YOU for that post. Thank you for telling it exactly like it is without bitterness, anger, or resentment. Thank you for just laying it out. As a woman of color, I really appreciate it. This is the post I wish I had had at my fingertips when Gloria Steinem wrote that (completely offensive, to me) editorial for The New York Times about how woman trumps black.
(Gloria Steinem op-ed is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?ex=1357534800&en=9f6d8783ff1b15c9&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)
Posted by: D | April 07, 2008 at 03:28 PM
D, we got you covered here at MOMocrats--check this out: Feminists for Obama, http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/02/go-read-it-femi.html
I also take issue with Robin Morgan's article, too.
Posted by: cynematic | April 08, 2008 at 01:06 AM