Feminism and Race

Hello dear readers,

Walking through the streets recently, it’s impossible to miss the flood of English flags that are all around - tied on lampposts, painted on roundabouts and on speedbumps.

Traditionally, the red-and-white cross of St George has been most visible during football and other sporting events, as a way of showing support, solidarity, and national pride. But like many symbols, its meaning has never been fixed.

For some, it means unity and patriotism for their country. But for others, they signal exclusion, and nationalism rather than patriotism - a reminder that not everyone is welcome.

And the truth is it's scary. As a woman of colour, traversing the streets with flags even being worn on people's backs, it serves as a form of psychological terror tactic almost, especially since my memories are still shadowed by the EDL riots following the Southport knife attack last summer. I didn’t leave my house in those few weeks, because people were being lynched on the streets, even in my town. And seeing these flags go up, I can't help but feel uncertainty for the future.

But it also led me to think about feminism and sexual violence - in 2 parts - victims and assaulters.

Let's start with the assaulters. First of all, let me be very clear - assault and harassment of anyone, despite race is abhorrent and morally wrong, and I vehemently stand against it.

But recently, nationalists and far-right activists have been pushing their anti-immigrant agenda under the banner of "protecting our women from immigrants". I've seen many videos of extremists talking about how they are only trying to protect their mothers, sisters and daughters from the 'uncivilised' nature of migrants and foreign nationals.

It's not only ironic that they use the pretence of feminism to further their racist agendas, as according to the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, 88% of UK sexual offenders are white, but it is also outrageous. By uniting under this façade, the message of feminism becomes stripped of its real purpose -  challenging patriarchal violence wherever it exists, not scapegoating entire communities.

Feminism is not a tool for the alienation of migrants, nor does it espouse racist beliefs. If we let racist narratives dictate the terms of women’s safety, we not only fail the women who are most vulnerable - migrant women, women of colour, working-class women - but we also weaken feminism itself, because we are letting women become pawns in the game of patriarchal xenophobia.

And this brings me on to the other part of this post - the victims.

Since the beginnings of the suffrage movement, mainstream feminism has focused on white, middle class women, and this is still seen today. Women of colour are not only marginalised on the race front, but are also overlooked and sidelined in regards to women's rights as well. Because they are not necessarily separate things, discrimination is a multi-layered phenomenon, and racism and sexism are intrinsically linked.

Yet when we talk about sexual violence, women of colour often disappear from the narrative altogether. They are either portrayed as victims in need of “saving” from the men in their own communities, or erased completely when the spotlight turns to “protecting our women” - which is usually associated with only white women.

But the poignant reality is that women of colour in the UK experience sexual violence too, and usually, at disproportionately high rates compared to white women. At the same time, they are less likely to be believed when they report it, less likely to receive access to support, and more likely to face barriers, such as language differences and socio-cultural stigma. It is also exemplified when we discuss things like the gender-pay gap, which on its own is unequal, but when you also factor in women of colour, the difference is profound.

This disenfranchisement leaves women of colour uniquely vulnerable. When far-right groups hijack feminist language to justify xenophobia, they are not just attacking migrants - they are erasing the voices of women of colour who have been fighting both racism and sexism all along.

Therefore it is crucial that we reclaim this narrative, and stop the spread of incorrect facts and information. 

Because feminism has never been about protecting some women at the expense of others - it must be about ensuring all women, including women of colour, are safe and have equitable rights. If we allow the right wing to twist that message into a weapon of fear and division, then we aren't being true to the values this movement was predicated on.

Thanks for reading,

All my love and rage,

The racism resister. xo