Accusing white women of criticism does not help the cause of feminism

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Last Friday, women and girls of all ages and ethnicities stood vigil in honor of Sabina Nessa, 28, the British Asian teacher who was murdered in Kidbrooke, south London. They came to mourn a brilliant life cut short and to demand the safety of women in public spaces.

The flowers are piling up. In March, after Sarah Everard, 33, a marketing executive, was kidnapped near Clapham and later killed by a police officer, similar vigils and nationwide protests were held and, again, those who gathered were of all shades, ages and classes. The UK Census of Feminicides of Women Killed by Men, founded by Karen Ingala Smith and Clarissa OCallaghan, identifies black, brown and white victims.

This is my kind of feminism: a collective and inclusive feminism, exemplified by the pillars of Baroness Helena Kennedy; Mandu Reid, the biracial leader of the Womens Equality Party; Deputy Rupa Huq; Pragna Patel of the Southall Black Sisters who for decades has campaigned and prosecuted gender-based violence in all communities; Natasha Walter, who founded Women for Refugee Women and others.

Racism and communal oppression create special pressures for us black and Asian women, and tensions can erupt between us and white feminists, but we could not have achieved our most enduring victories against patriarchal forces without combining our strengths and experiences.

For some very tense modern feminists, such interracial cooperation proves that we are subject to whiteness and not to true anti-racists. Their political and historical illiteracy is now seen as edgy, exciting. I present to you Against White Feminism, a new book by Rafia Zakaria, Pakistani-American lawyer and columnist. The way she sees it, white feminists, all privileged, obviously makes minority women uncomfortable, inaudible, and fed up. If the born-advantaged missies care about, say, honor killings, they have a savior complex; if they stay silent, they don’t care.

After Joan Smith, an old-school feminist colleague, wrote a review of the book, Zakaria used social media to disparage and insult Smith, disparaging her personally and on the basis of her race.

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Removing the increase in universal credit will make it harder for women to flee domestic violence

Earlier this year, other professional and vocal women of color referred to a book by former teacher Kate Clanchy called Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, which rightfully won the 2020 Orwell Award. highlighted unacceptable terms, including chocolate and almond-colored eyes. I have often cited Métis children who describe themselves as chocolate. So why is this offensive and to whom?

Almond-eyed Afghan schoolgirl Shukria Rezaei defended Clanchy in an article for The Times: Kate gave us platforms we never expected. She fought for us to be in rooms and places we had never been welcomed before and made sure people heard what we had to say. But the editors got scared and Clanchy is now rewriting the book.

Identity politics suck. Struggles for equality and dignity should be based on universal rights for all. My friend, the BBC reporter, the late Sue Lloyd-Roberts, lived by this principle. Once, when I was cornered by hostile Asian activists who thought my reporting on grooming gangs and forced marriages was disloyal to communities and families, she stood up and simply said: Men are going. love this cat fight. But ladies, what will your intolerance and intimidation do for you? What indeed.

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