mykyta_p

"Don't criticize American slavery exclusively - there was African slavery too!"

That's an argument that is pretty popular nowdays. A knee-jerk reaction is to toss it aside as classical both-side-ism (and I don't think that this reaction is a wrong one).

However, this argument deserves to be looked at more closely. Indeed, there WAS African slavery - so this argument is basically saying:

- When it comes to slavery, the United States' foundational ethics and morals were not better that the ones of African tribes and early feudal states.



Not exactly a compliment. As you keep adding context, and remember things like:
- chattel slavery,
- race as the basis for slavery,
- institutional decisions like "3/5 of a person"
- and others

...you cannot help but rephrase this conclusion:

- When it comes to slavery, the United States' foundational ethics and morals were noticeably worse that the ones of African tribes and early feudal states.

If I had a dollar each time I heard that - I could have retired by now, I guess. :)

However, I just got out of Robin DiAngelo's lecture. (BTW, she is so much cooler as a live lecturer! Or should I say "online" instead of "live"?) She did a great job using intersectionality as a tool to dissect this question.


One of the facts I haven't though about earlier (and want to share) was this:



One hundred years ago women were systematically oppressed. Like in "not having a right to vote", "not having a right to hold property in all entirety of property rights", "not having a right to have a bank account" etc. If it there is a definition of systematic oppression - this is it.

However, even now, a hundred years later - white women in the US who are still severely underrepresented when it comes to wielding real power (think presidents, senators, representatives, military, police etc.). Yet (compared to people of color) they have no problems with access to education, inherited wealth, good family conditions (whatever the hell that means)

Who is going to say that it can be explained by individual issues of individual women (that is, their cultural, mental or educational underachievements)? Not me. Not anyone who I respect, I hope. After all - women, not men are law-abiding citizens (especially when it comes to violent crimes). They have access to education, they inherit wealth from parents the same way males do (etc., etc.).

We jump at the opportunity to blame PoC for their individual issues, we are eager to say that it is not a systemic problem, it is something else. Yet, when it comes to white females and their conditions - the gender gap this big cannot be explained by individual issues.




Does this picture bother you as much as it bothers me? (And it bothers me on more than one dimension...)