'The terms 'women of color' and 'people of color' are meant to be inclusive. But, from my perspective, they only help to leave black people behind — specifically black women.' Via latimesopinion:
As a black woman, I seek out inclusive spaces because I lack them in my everyday life. I don’t think I’ve ever unintentionally entered a space and immediately felt like I was a part of the majority. I remember when I joined my first women’s group. I went to one club meeting, and never returned. I felt like every issue these women were struggling with affected me more intensely because of my race. It wasn’t empowering, just depressing.
No one looked like me. I didn’t expect to be in a room filled with black women, but I also didn’t think I’d be the only one. And while the others went on about empowerment, sisterhood and freedom, I was met with, yet again, a feeling I knew only I could understand. In a room full of women discussing ways to be heard among men, ironically, I was grappling with how to do just that in the room we were in.I should have known better when I saw the group advertised as “women of color-friendly.
The terms “women of color” and “people of color” are meant to be inclusive. But, from my perspective, they only help to leave black people behind — specifically black women. While every minority group faces its own challenges in America, a “one size fits all” mentality toward diversity erases the specific needs of the most vulnerable communities.Any effort that sees the struggles of all minorities as a single movement is actually harmful.
To see for myself, I picked up a random high-end fashion magazine. Out of hundreds of models it had a total of 12 black women in it, admittedly better than the one or two I was expecting. Looking closer, however, I noticed that these women were either all extremely light-skinned, very dark-skinned or highly established in their careers, like Lupita Nyong’o.
The reality is that not all “people of color” suffer equally from the effects of institutional racism.
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