Does Feminism Have to Address Race?

I have never been asked to fetch coffee. Never. Does that mean sexist shit doesn’t happen to me at work? No. But that sexism is informed by my race, so instead of assuming this cute young woman should sit prettily in the corner and make coffee, they assume that this name “Latoya Peterson” will manifest into some neck-swiveling straight from the ‘hood stereotype. The white girl being relegated to the coffee machine still has a job. My resume is in the recycle bin.

And while I can truly understand if some women feel that their gender problems take more prominence than their race problems, other women need to understand that for some of us, that separation does not happen. And what bothers me most about a lot of feminist discourse is that while it may claim to speak for all women, it leaves out crucial parts of the dialogue because it refuses to engage with these other issues.

Wendi and I were discussing this while we were in Cambridge and she summed up my sentiments in a very concise statement. She said, “I don’t have certain issues because I am a woman; I have certain issues because I am a black woman.”

Our discrimination is not race neutral. So why should our feminism be?

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